Pokemon Drama Island
by Autonomous Orange
Summary: What happens when you put 32 Pokémon on an island and make them compete for one million dollars? Romance, drama, comedy, rivalry, and (probably) much more! But only one can win...so who will be the winner of Pokémon Drama Island?
1. Happy Campers

"Hello hello, lovely ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Pokemon Drama Island!" announced the charismatic voice of a small levitating Pokemon. "I'm your host, Jirachi!"

A Pokemon with a crown made of pale pink gems floated up next to Jirachi. The lower half of her body was shaped out of a rough-looking rock. "And I'm the co-host, Diancie!" explained the second Pokemon. "Together we're bringing you the greatest game show since sliced bread!"

"That made no sense," said Jirachi, facepalming. Diancie just shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, on this very show, thirty-two Pokemon will be facing off against each other—sixteen male and sixteen female—for a grand prize: one million dollars!" Jirachi thrust his arms upward in excitement. "Isn't that exciting, Diancie?"

"Yes it is, Jirachi," Diancie replied, flashing the camera a dazzling smile. "But that's not all! This show isn't just about luck; players will have to use their skills to win the challenges that are thrown at them. The players will be divided into two teams from the start. Only one team can win the challenge, so the losing team has to suffer a penalty."

"And that penalty comes in the form of elimination!" exclaimed Jirachi. "The losing team votes to select a team member to send home. The unfortunate sap who receives the most votes gets kicked off the island. No more chances to win a million dollars. It's game over for them, folks." Jirachi cracked a grin. "Only one can be left standing in the end."

"So, without further ado, we're simply introducing the contestants who will be competing on this show for tonight," Diancie said. "They'll be divided into their teams, and the first challenge will begin tomorrow. Say, that looks like the first Lapras pulling in now!"

A Lapras swam up to the wooden dock on which Jirachi and Diancie stood and allowed its passenger to climb off. The first arrival was a yellow rat-like Pokemon with spiky fur and a white ruff around its neck.

"Hey," the newcomer greeted the hosts. "I'm Jolteon. What's up?"

"Not much, not much. How about you?" Jirachi responded coolly.

Jolteon shrugged nonchalantly. "Could be worse. I wasn't expecting to actually get accepted onto this show, so it's definitely a cool way to spend my summer."

"Right then. You can go stand over on the end of the dock!" Jirachi said cheerfully. Jolteon lugged a plain brown suitcase behind him and stood alone at the other end of the dock as the second Lapras drifted closer to the hosts.

The second arrival's appearance caught Jirachi off guard. She was a slender brown bunny with lighter, cream colored fur covering her ears and legs. Her red eyes had thin black markings around the inner edge. Jirachi stared at her for a while before she spoke up.

"Is this the right place?" asked the bunny doubtfully, seeing only three Pokemon besides herself on the island. "I was told there was a game show here, but…"

"Yeah, you're in the right place," Diancie said. She snapped her fingers in Jirachi's face, snapping him out of his daze. "Hey. Jirachi. Focus on intros now. You can ogle the bunny chick later."

Jirachi turned bright red as the newcomer giggled lightheartedly. "My name's Lopunny," she told the hosts. "I assume I should stand by the other guy?"

"Yep," Diancie said. Lopunny strolled across the dock and waited next to Jolteon, who gave her a brief nod but didn't pay her much attention otherwise.

Jirachi grumbled crossly to Diancie. "Don't embarrass me in front of the contestants again. I have to keep up my reputation, you know."

"What reputation? The viewing world probably didn't even know you existed until now."

"Shut up."

The third Lapras coughed loudly enough to catch the hosts' attention. Its passenger, a small black bird with a colorful yellow and green body and blue wings, stepped off and stretched its wings a bit.

"Howdy. You folks can call me Chatot," called the bird. He sauntered over to Jirachi and held out a wing, which the host shook politely after a moment's hesitation. "It's a pleasure ta be here, ya know."

"Where you from?" asked Diancie curiously.

"South Unova. I get that question a lot; has ta be the accent, doesn't it," Chatot said casually. He pulled a cowboy hat out of seemingly nowhere and placed it atop his hat. "I'd introduce mahself a bit more, but seein' as I'm gonna win this game, there's no need ta acquaint myself with the losers."

Chatot flew over next to Jolteon and Lopunny as Jirachi snickered. "Wow. You really know how to pick 'em, Diancie."

"Hey, at least he's interesting," countered Diancie. "Weirdos are good for ratings."

"Can't argue with that logic," Jirachi said, shaking his head. "Here comes number four."

The fourth Lapras dropped off a petite pink fairy. She gave a slight wave of the hand and stood next to Diancie.

"You're Clefairy, right?" asked Diancie.

"That's me!" squeaked Clefairy in an annoyingly high-pitched voice. Jirachi and Diancie both cringed upon hearing her speak. "I'm so excited to be here, oh my gosh! Thank you soooo much for letting me onto the show! I've never actually been on TV before, can you believe that?"

"I sure can," said Jirachi, faking a smile. "Now go stand over there."

Clefairy squealed happily and skipped over towards the other arrivals. Chatot raised an eyebrow at her and Lopunny eyed the Fairy-type distastefully.

The fifth Pokemon to arrive appeared rather intimidating. He was a large mammalian Pokemon with a huge, spiky armored shell. He was over a foot taller than Lopunny, who was the tallest Pokemon there besides him.

"I'm Chesnaught," said the newcomer gruffly. He eyed the other competitors. "So this is it? There's only four others? That's hardly fair."

Jirachi rolled his eyes. "Very funny, big guy. There's thirty-two of you competing. Now go over there and wait for the others."

Chesnaught smirked and walked over to the others. Jolteon looked the Spiny Armor Pokemon over thoughtfully. If Chesnaught was as tough as he looked, maybe he could be a decent ally in the game…

The sixth Pokemon to arrive was actually swimming alongside her Lapras, chatting with it animatedly. When they arrived at the dock, she hopped up gracefully, landing on all fours.

Jolteon's eyes widened. The newcomer was a strange mix between an aquatic Pokemon and a mammal. She had fins coming out of the sides of her head and a long blue tail, but her body was similar to that of a feline.

"I'm Vaporeon," the Bubble Jet Pokemon said politely. "It's nice to be here. Thank you for allowing me to participate; hopefully I can walk out of here a million dollars richer!"

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Jirachi asked with a smile. "Unfortunately, there's thirty-one others vying for the prize, so it's not that easy! Good luck anyway, you seem reasonable."

Vaporeon gave the host a small smile and joined the other arrivals at the end of the dock. Jolteon blushed nervously when she sat down beside him, but it didn't seem that she actually noticed it. Jolteon felt a wave of relief.

"Hey, that's a nice hat you got there!" Clefairy piped up, poking Chatot's hat with one of her hands. The bird blinked at her. "My grandpa used to wear a hat like that! But then he got hit by a bus and died."

"Uh…cool," Chatot replied awkwardly. Clefairy beamed at him for no reason in particular.

Thunderous footsteps caught everyone's attention as the seventh contestant strolled down the dock. He was a huge green dinosaur-like Pokemon with scales as tough as armor. His tail swept across the wooden dock, leaving dents wherever it hit something. Jirachi winced as the Pokemon's tail accidentally struck one of the wooden boards on the dock, snapping it in half.

"Could you possibly destroy our property a little less?" asked Jirachi hopefully.

The dinosaur Pokemon glanced down in surprise, seeing the trail of destruction his tail had left. "Oh! Gosh, I'm so sorry. I just evolved from a Pupitar a few days before coming here, so…I'm still not used to this form yet, ha ha." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Name's Tyranitar, by the way."

Chesnaught watched Tyranitar carefully. He seemed like he would be a strong competitor, but if he had just evolved, he might not even be worth allying with. Chesnaught wanted to play a careful game, and he didn't need to get involved with every player, especially those that were weaker than he was. Chesnaught only wanted to work with other strong players so he could make it further in the game.

Out from behind Tyranitar popped out a small blue Pokemon. She had a blue head and a zigzagging black tail that connected a round blue tail almost as big as her head. "Hiya!"

Tyranitar jumped in surprise, glancing down to see the tiny Pokemon by his foot. "Don't scare me like that," Tyranitar protested. The blue Pokemon giggled playfully.

"I'm Azurill! I'm in training to join a rescue team!" she informed the hosts. "If I win this show, I'll spend the money to fund my expeditions!"

"Oh, an adventurah," Chatot said approvingly. "She seems all right in my book."

"Thanks!" Azurill shouted. She dashed over to the other seven competitors and positioned herself by Chatot and Clefairy. She sat on her tail, bouncing back and forth energetically.

"How many more are left?" Lopunny asked Vaporeon. "This seems to be taking a while."

"Jirachi said there were thirty-two, didn't he?" Vaporeon whispered back. "There's eight of us here. It'll be a while longer." Lopunny groaned quietly.

The ninth Pokemon promptly hopped off his Lapras and struggled to get his suitcase down. The Lapras kindly dumped it next to him. He nodded gratefully and the Lapras sped off.

The new arrival was a small yellow cocoon Pokemon. He had piercing black eyes and could extend parts of his shell out like claws. "Call me Kakuna," he said simply. "Glad to be here."

He hopped over to the other contestants (which was a bit of a struggle since he lacked any limbs), and Jirachi levitated his suitcase over after him.

The tenth contestant was a cream-colored mouse with blue ears and minus signs decorating her cheeks. Her tail was even shaped like a minus sign.

"I'm Minun!" said the new arrival cheerfully. "I've never been on a show like this before, so…"

"You can just go stand by the others," Diancie told her. "We'll explain everything once everyone gets here."

Minun nodded obediently and joined the others. Clefairy gave Minun a hug, which the Electric-type hesitantly returned. When Clefairy's back was turned, Minun scooted away from her and closer to Azurill, who looked at Minun sympathetically.

The eleventh contestant was a black fox with long red hair. He gave all of the contestants a sly grin and marched over to the hosts. "Zoroark. Remember it, because I'm going to win," he said confidently. Chatot scoffed from where he was standing, and Chesnaught shook his head disapprovingly.

Zoroark took notice of this and walked over to Chatot, scowling. "You got a problem with me, birdbrain?" Zoroark snarled. "I've watched shows like these. I know how to win. And I know how to get you eliminated if you get in my way."

"Try it and I can guarantee ya won't last long, pal," threatened Chatot. Zoroark scowled again and stalked over by Lopunny, who tried to keep a distance from the hostile fox.

The twelfth contestant approached the hosts silently. She was a rocky gray Pokemon with red rocks protruding from several places on her body. Her eyes were hollowed out from the surface of her body, and were a dark yellow. Diancie raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to say anything, or what…?"

The contestant shook her head shyly. "Well, okay," said Diancie awkwardly. "You're Boldore, right?" The contestant nodded. "Good. Stand by the others."

Boldore hobbled over by the other Pokemon. "You don't say much, do you?" asked Vaporeon. Boldore shook her head. "That's okay. I'm Vaporeon, by the way."

"Of course she doesn't say much. She doesn't have a mouth, idiot," Zoroark rudely interrupted. Vaporeon shot him a glare. Boldore looked down at the dock miserably.

"Hey, you can talk and you don't have a mouth!" Clefairy burst out, pointing at Kakuna.

"I'm in between a Weedle and a Beedrill here," Kakuna said, though everyone could tell this time that his voice seemed muffled. "I can still talk, but the shell makes it kind of hard."

"Oh," said Clefairy, satisfied. "'Kay then."

"What's up, homies?"

The contestants swiveled to see an orange lizard Pokemon smoking a cigarette at the end of the dock. He blew some smoke out of his mouth and grinned at them.

Jirachi stared at him oddly for a moment. "Uh…well then. Welcome to Pokemon Drama Island."

"Thanks, man," said the lizard, not even seeming to pay Jirachi any attention. "I'm Scrafty," he said, drifting over towards Lopunny and winking at her flirtatiously. "How you doing over here, hot stuff?"

"Fine, thanks," said Lopunny stiffly. Scrafty winked again, and Chesnaught rolled his eyes at how careless this guy was acting. Scrafty slumped over next to Azurill, leaning with one arm against a rock. He puffed his cigarette a few times more. Minun's nose scrunched up in disgust.

"Here's player number fourteen," Jirachi commented as the next one arrived. She was a plant-like Pokemon with a red flower growing from her head. Long green leaves also sprouted from her head like hair, and the leaves around her body almost appeared like a dress.

"Hi," she greeted the hosts. "I'm Lilligant."

"Welcome aboard!" said Jirachi, grinning. "You can stand by the others over there and talk with them until everyone else arrives!"

"Sure," Lilligant agreed willingly. She joined the group that had formed at the end of the dock and began chatting with Vaporeon in a friendly manner. Lopunny looked like she wanted to talk with the new arrival as well, but she felt uncomfortable with Scrafty staring at her the whole time.

The fifteenth arrival was a red and blue dragon Pokemon. He resembled a gargoyle, and he had rough looking wings and glowing yellow eyes.

"Name's Druddigon," rumbled the dragon in a deep voice. "I'm here to win. Don't know what else there is to say, so I won't say anything more."

"Nice and simple. I like that," Jirachi complimented the Cave Pokemon, who gave a shrug of the shoulders before stomping off next to Tyranitar.

A long pause passed before the next contestant arrived. Diancie pulled out a watch and tapped it impatiently. "The Lapras that's bringing the next one is SO fired," she grumbled furiously. "We're falling behind the deadline here."

"BOO!" shouted a voice from behind Diancie, who screamed loudly. The hosts turned around to see a purple and black bat Pokemon with large ears cackling madly behind them. "Oh, your face was priceless!" the bat howled. Diancie glared at her.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Diancie inquired, her voice cold. Diancie liked being embarrassed on live TV even less than Jirachi.

"Noivern, of course!" the bat said. "Haven't you ever heard me on the radio before? I make music!"

"No," said Diancie flatly. Noivern frowned and flew over by Boldore and Azurill.

"Hey, I listen to some of your music, if it makes you feel any better," Azurill said to Noivern.

Noivern's frown turned into a huge grin. "Whoa, seriously? I didn't think anybody actually listened to my stuff! I just started out, so I don't have many fans. Like, twenty, maybe," Noivern thought aloud. "No idea how I made it onto the radio, actually."

"You don't act very professional, for a musician," remarked Druddigon. "Spooking the hosts like that…funny, but not professional."

Noivern shrugged. "I'm just here to have fun, man," she said. "That way, if my music career doesn't take off, I've got a million dollars to fall back on."

"That's if you win, which you won't," Zoroark said with a sneer. Tyranitar "accidentally" stumbled and knocked Zoroark onto the ground. The fox growled and pulled himself back up, grumbling to himself about "this island and all these losers."

When the seventeenth Lapras pulled up, Jirachi and Diancie waited for a full minute for someone to show up. Jirachi finally checked on the Lapras's back to make sure it didn't arrive empty-handed.

On the Lapras's shell was a tiny orange chicken Pokemon, cowering in fear. "I…d-don't like water," stuttered the bird nervously. It was only a short distance to reach the dock, but his legs were trembling too much to make the jump.

Jirachi sighed impatiently and used telekinesis to lower the cowardly chicken onto the dock. "Name, please," droned Jirachi.

"T-Torchic," the little bird stuttered again.

"Sounds like somebody's a little s-scared," Chatot said in the crowd, mocking Torchic's stutter. Scrafty chuckled a bit, but Chatot received glares from Minun and Vaporeon.

After Torchic had joined the contestants, the eighteenth competitor arrived. She was also levitating like Jirachi and Diancie, but she appeared to be a ghost Pokemon. She was mostly pink but had fancy white patterns on her body.

"It's such a pleasure to be here," she said in a sweet voice. "My name is Frillish. I hope that I'm able to win this…and maybe make some friends while I'm here."

"To be honest, I joined to make more friends, too," Minun admitted to Lilligant. The plant nodded understandingly.

"Nice to meet you, Frillish! Go take a seat by the other folks down there. Or stand. I don't care, really," Jirachi said. Frillish floated over to join them.

The nineteenth Pokemon was covered in a gelatinous green goo. His body, completely covered by the mysterious substance, was actually white and rather small. The odd green gel formed a sort of body around him, giving him arms and allowing him to float, much like Frillish.

"I'm Reuniclus," he stated. "I hope to win this game fair and square. I want to win by using strategy and integrity; no alliance nonsense."

"That's awfully hard to do in shows like these, but I have to say, I commend you for trying to do so anyway," admitted Jirachi. "Go join the others, if you'd please."

The twentieth Pokemon was…also one who could levitate. She was small and gray, but the area around her eyes was white; she was ghostlike in shape, but she wasn't actually a Ghost-type.

"Castform! Welcome to Pokemon Drama Island!" shouted Jirachi, eliminating the need for her to introduce herself. "You're lucky number twenty!"

"What does being number twenty mean?" asked Castform curiously.

"Absolutely nothing!" said Jirachi, beaming. "Now go stand over there."

Castform looked disappointed by his answer, but she floated over by Boldore and stayed silent anyway. Lilligant struck up a conversation with her as the twenty-first contestant arrived.

The newcomer's appearance was unsettling; he had only one eye, and it was red. It was hard to tell if his hands were actually attached to his body. He was mostly gray in color, except for his hands, and his legs were awkwardly shaped, lacking feet and being seemingly flat.

He stopped next to the hosts. "My name is Dusclops," he said in a sinister voice. "And I…"

A loud snort came from him, alarming Diancie and Jirachi. But then it was followed by loud chuckling and finally laughter. "Oh Arceus, I can't do that creepy voice anymore," Dusclops laughed in a much more normal voice. "I usually like to try to creep people out at first because of…you know, the way I look. Guess I'm off my game today."

"O…kay…" Jirachi said, not sure how to react. "You almost had me creeped out there for a moment, what with the dark voice and the weird eye and stuff."

"What's wrong with my eye?" asked Dusclops, looking offended.

"Nothing," said Jirachi quickly. Dusclops shuffled over next to Noivern, who seemed to be impressed by his prank as well. She gave him a high five.

"Nice one," Castform said to Dusclops.

"Thanks," he said, grinning at her and Noivern.

"CHARGE!" yelled a loud voice. Jirachi and Diancie quickly moved out of the way as an armored bug with lance-like arms charged through. Her battle cry continued the whole way as she flew by the contestants, finally crashing into Torchic, who hadn't moved fast enough.

"I think I hurt my everything," moaned Torchic.

"PAIN IS FOR THE WEAK," snarled the newcomer. "MAN UP AND STOP BEING SUCH A CHICKEN."

Scrafty giggled girlishly at this, earning him some weird looks from Lilligant and Frillish. Clefairy's face remained blank for a moment before a smile began to spread across it.

"Wait…Torchic is…Torchic is a…oh, I get it! HA HA HA HA!" Clefairy exclaimed gleefully. Lopunny facepalmed.

"Hey, weird gladiator bug! Who are you?" called Jirachi.

"ESCAVALIER IS THE NAME, WINNING IS MY GAME," she yelled back. "ALL YOU WEAKLINGS BETTER STAY OUT OF MY WAY, UNLESS YOU'RE ON MY TEAM. THEN YOU BETTER NOT GET IN MY WAY, EITHER."

Vaporeon decided not to point out that her statement made no sense.

"Hate to rain on your parade, but I exist too, you know," said a snowflake Pokemon from where Escavalier had previously charged through. "I'm Cryogonal."

"Okay, good for you. Go stand by the others down there and try not to get killed by Escavalier," Jirachi ordered him. Cryogonal sighed and floated away.

"I don't even get a proper intro," Cryogonal grumbled to himself. Boldore waved at him kindly. He acknowledged her and turned back toward the hosts.

"Sure seems like there are a lot of us here already," Castform commented to Cryogonal. "And this isn't even all of us!"

"I certainly hope not. I wouldn't want to spend the next few months with just you people. It'd drive me crazy," Cryogonal muttered. He glanced back to see Castform and Reuniclus frowning at him. "No offense," he added quickly.

"None taken," said Reuniclus, though he didn't sound too enthusiastic.

The twenty-fourth competitor stepped off her Lapras calmly and carried her suitcase in one hand with her. "I'm Mawile," she said, walking over and shaking Jirachi and Diancie's hands. "Thanks for having me."

"Not a problem," said Diancie, surprised by the Steel-type's manners. "I like her," she whispered to Jirachi.

"Me too," he commented. "Next Lapras is arriving in five, four, three, two, one!"

"Hi!" squealed a little pig-like Pokemon. He had brown striped fur and an adorable pink snout. His eyes were squinted as he hobbled off the Lapras. "I'm Swinub!"

"Hello," said Jirachi, giving the little guy a smile. "Go over there by the others, okay?"

"Okay!" he agreed happily. Jolteon made some room, and Swinub slid in next to Torchic and Minun.

The twenty-sixth arrival came soon after Swinub. She was a floating chandelier Pokemon, with five bright purple flames.

"And you are?" prompted Diancie once the chandelier had floated down.

"Chandelure," said the newcomer, brushing off the co-host. Diancie looked put out by her lack of enthusiasm, but said nothing.

Next came a Pokemon that looked like a clay toy. He was a light brown color, but he had a red design on his body. "I'm Baltoy," said the newcomer monotonously. "How's that for a name."

"It's…easy to remember?" Jirachi offered.

Baltoy scoffed. "Yeah, easy to remember, but about as creative as a Gloom named 'Misery.'" He floated off to join the others.

"What's his problem?" muttered Jirachi. "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

"I heard that," called Baltoy irritably. Jirachi rolled his eyes.

The next arrival was a slender weasel Pokemon. She was pale purple and looked very strong. "I am Mienshao," she said, nodding to Jirachi and Diancie respectively. "It is good to meet you."

"I get that a lot," said Jirachi smugly. "I'm a pretty great guy."

Mienshao raised an eyebrow and kept walking. She was followed by…a large mushroom.

"Oy. Sir Wish-a-lot," the mushroom grunted, getting Jirachi's attention. "How long do we have to stay in this crummy summer camp?"

"Nice to meet you, too," Jirachi responded sarcastically. "And don't call my camp crummy. What's your name?"

"Amoonguss," the mushroom said. "Don't wear it out. I don't even want to be here…I can't believe my parents ACTUALLY signed me up for this."

"Whine about it to somebody else, because I don't care about your personal life!" said Jirachi brightly. "Next!"

Amoonguss shuffled over to the other contestants, grumbling to himself the whole way. Scrafty nudged him in the side.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure you'll make some friends while you're here," said Scrafty reassuringly.

"What makes you say that?" asked Amoonguss doubtfully.

"Well, I hate to judge people based on their looks, but you look like a pretty…FUNGI," said Scrafty, cracking a grin. Dusclops erupted into laughter as Amoonguss scowled.

The thirtieth contestant was a purple cat with yellow fur covering her belly and legs. She had striking blue eyes and looked as if she might be a dangerous competitor.

"I'm Liepard," she told the hosts. "I'm here for the million, just like everyone else. But unlike everyone else, I plan on being the one to take it home."

"That's certainly an ambitious goal," said Diancie. "But nobody ever wins without being a little ambitious! Good luck."

"Thanks," Liepard said, smiling. She walked over and stood by Lopunny and Chandelure.

The thirty-first burst from the water before his Lapras even reached the dock. "Hey, I'm Clauncher!" he shouted excitedly. "Here to have some fun and win some money! Let's do this!"

"That's the spirit!" Jirachi shouted. "Now go show us your talent by walking over there."

Clauncher spontaneously burst into an Aqua Jet attack and flew over by the others, but he stopped his attack before he hit anyone, landing gracefully next to Tyranitar.

"Hey, this should be the last contestant coming up," Jirachi said, looking down at a checklist of competitors. "Nice."

The final contestant was a black snake Pokemon. Her tongue flickered instinctively a few times as she slithered over to the hosts.

"I'm Ssseviper. Sssuch a pleasssure to be here," she said.

"Good to have you," Diancie replied. "And since you're the last one, we can finally move on! Everybody, follow us!"

The contestants all glanced among themselves and began following Jirachi and Diancie toward the camp in the distance.

"So, what do you think about this place?" Mienshao asked, leaning over toward Lopunny.

"Oh, I don't know yet. It seems all right," she said. "Although I wish I could get away from Scrafty…he won't take his eyes off me."

"This is lookin' ta be pretty excitin', isn't it?" Chatot asked Cryogonal.

The Crystallizing Pokemon glanced down at Chatot. "Yeah, I guess," he agreed. "The prospect of winning so much money is pretty neat. I'm worried about the challenges, though—I don't know if I'm prepared for this stuff. I've never even watched a show like this before."

"They're not as hard as people crack 'em up ta be," Chatot reassured him. "Just play it safe. Don't make too many enemies and don't screw up challenges. Ya should make it at least halfway through the game that way."

Cryogonal eyed Chatot curiously. "You seem to know a lot about this stuff. You ever been on a show like this before?"

Chatot hid his face under his hat. "…Once. I was the first one out, but I learned from mah mistakes."

Tyranitar was carrying Kakuna in one hand as he walked, to save the bug some trouble. "So you seem like a pretty cool guy," Tyranitar said to Kakuna. "Do you train much?"

"You mean as in battles?" Kakuna asked. He shook his head. "No, I don't do much of that, or I would have evolved again by now. But you seem pretty cool, too. And strong, at that. I'd like to have an ally like that in this game."

"Maybe if we're lucky enough to be on the same team," Tyranitar said thoughtfully.

"We're being split into teams?" asked Lilligant. "I didn't hear about that."

"Yeah, otherwise it'd be chaotic at first, with thirty-two of us running around," Tyranitar explained. "So we'll be in two teams, and the losing team will send a player home."

"And once there's only a few players left, the teams will dissolve," Mawile said, walking up on Tyranitar's other side. "I've seen shows like this before. You can't show off all of your skills during the game, or people will vote you out once there's no teams because you're a threat. But you can't be too weak either, or they'll vote you off because you can't help your team."

"Huh. Good point," Lilligant said. "I hope I can do this. I've never tried competing before…in anything, really."

"Good luck, then," Tyranitar said, smiling at her. Lilligant returned the smile.

"All right, our first stop is here!" Jirachi said, halting the contestants and pointing to…an outhouse.

Baltoy snickered. "Okay, I realized that the show had a budget, but really? An outhouse?"

"This is no ordinary outhouse!" Jirachi warned him. "Inside is a camera, to—"

"You're watching us in the bathroom?" asked Frillish, looking sickened.

"NO! I'm not THAT kind of guy!" protested Jirachi. "The camera is only for if you want to say something in private! It's a confessional."

"Oh, I get it," Mawile said.

"For those who don't though, here's how it works," Diancie began. "You can share your thoughts privately using the confessional so that no other contestant will be able to hear them. The viewing world, however, will—as well as me and Jirachi, because we're in charge here."

"Also, when we do voting ceremonies, there's a little box in there," Jirachi said. He opened the confessional's door and pulled out a covered black box. "You can put your vote inside for whoever you want to send home. I'll count up the votes, and the most voted Pokemon goes home."

"And no cheating! If we catch you tampering with the votes or voting for somebody when you're not even on their team, you can get penalized," Diancie said. "The punishment varies depending on the offense, in this case."

"Ssseems ssself-explanatory enough," Seviper said. "Ssso what's next?"

"Welcome to camp!" Jirachi shouted, holding up his arms dramatically as the group wandered into the campgrounds. There were eight buildings in the camp.

"Your cabins are over there; that's where you'll be staying during your time on the island," Jirachi explained. "There are four cabins, one for each gender on each team. That means eight Pokemon per cabin; that should be enough space for each of you."

"Over there is the hosts' headquarters!" Diancie explained, gesturing to the next building. "It's off limits to you, as is the warehouse over there, which is for storing supplies for the challenges. Top secret stuff."

"What would happen if we were to try to break into the warehouse?" asked Zoroark, his eyes gleaming.

"I…don't like your tone," Diancie said, frowning. "Anyway, it's locked with like five high-security locks. You'd need to be really good at lock-picking or have a lot of spare time to break in."

Zoroark huffed but said nothing. Liepard eyed the fox curiously. Would he really have made such a bold move?

"What about the last two buildings?" asked Dusclops.

"This building is a multi-purpose building," Jirachi said, taking them to the next building. "It'll probably be used in a bunch of indoor challenges and for announcements, et cetera."

"Finally, here's the cafeteria!" Diancie said, showing them the final building. "Meals are served here at the same time every day, and this is also where we begin our show!"

The contestants were herded inside, and they began to gather at the long tables around the room. Some contestants, such as Azurill and Castform, were already getting friendly with other contestants and sat close by them. Others, like Baltoy, remained solitary and didn't talk to anyone.

"So what's for dinner?" asked Swinub excitedly.

"Uh…no dinner, Swinub," said Jirachi. "We're moving on."

"But…I like dinner," Swinub said sadly. Clauncher gave him a comforting pat on the back.

"So! Our first order of business is dividing you sorry suckers into teams," Jirachi said, his attitude suddenly changing. "From here on out, these Pokemon are your friends or your enemies based on team placements! Treat them as such."

Diancie handed Jirachi a list, which he began to read. "Okay, our first team is the Marvelous Milotics," Jirachi read from the paper. "This team will consist of Azurill, Boldore, Escavalier, Baltoy, Dusclops, Scrafty, Castform, Liepard, Jolteon, Noivern, Zoroark, Cryogonal, Mawile, Chatot, Druddigon, and Chandelure. You got that?"

The contestants nodded. Azurill and Noivern exchanged an excited look that they were on the same team. Chatot gave a brief nod to Cryogonal. Chandelure looked as if she absolutely did not care whose team she was on. She seemed like more of an independent player to everyone.

Diancie tossed Azurill a pink banner, which she unrolled to reveal a symbol of Milotic. "Awesome, we get team banners!" Azurill exclaimed. "Ten out of ten, man!"

Diancie smiled at the excited mouse. "And that leaves us with the rest of you on the second team; if you didn't catch your name, Jirachi will read them off."

"Our second team is the Great Gastrodons," Jirachi read from the paper. "That means it will consist of Kakuna, Frillish, Vaporeon, Lilligant, Reuniclus, Tyranitar, Chesnaught, Clauncher, Swinub, Lopunny, Mienshao, Clefairy, Seviper, Minun, Torchic, and Amoonguss. Any questions?"

The contestants all shook their heads. "Wonderful!" said Jirachi. He tossed down a blue banner to Kakuna, which knocked the poor cocoon in the head.

"Why didn't you catch that?" Jirachi complained. "It was a perfect throw!"

"I don't have hands," said Kakuna bluntly. Chesnaught unrolled the banner for him to reveal a Gastrodon symbol.

"Okay, now that you know your teams, you can head to your respective cabins and unpack. They're labeled by team and gender for convenience," Jirachi said. "Now shoo!"

The campers all left the cafeteria, talking among themselves excitedly as the went to their cabins. Jolteon watched as Vaporeon went into the Gastrodons' cabin. He had hoped that he'd be on her team, since she was cute and all. But he knew that it was a 50-50 chance, and he had lost to the odds.

"At least I'm not on Scrafty's team," Amoonguss told himself. "I've heard enough fungus puns to last me a lifetime. Things can only look up from here."

"Hey, so you're Amoonguss, right?" came the bubbly voice of Clefairy from behind him. Amoonguss jumped.

"Why are you in the guys' cabin?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, whoops! Didn't realize this was the wrong cabin!" Clefairy said with a laugh. Amoonguss found that hard to believe, since Chesnaught was right behind him. Clefairy stumbled back out through the door.

"Maybe I got stuck with the crazies after all," Amoonguss groaned.

In the Milotic girls' cabin…

"Hey, I was here first!"

"NONSENSE! I CLAIM THIS BED AS MY PROPERTY AND I SHALL DEFEND IT TO THE DEATH."

"Whoa, calm down, guys," Mawile said, holding Escavalier back from attacking Azurill, who had bravely stood up to the crazy bug. "It's just a bed."

"Yeah, but I was bunking with Noivern," Azurill pointed out. "We're friends now." Noivern nodded from her bunk on top.

"BUT I LIKE BEING BY THE WINDOW," Escavalier commented from beside the window. "THIS BED HAS A NICE VIEW."

"Uh…maybe you and Noivern should just bunk somewhere else," Mawile whispered to Azurill. "I'm not sure I can talk sense to Escavalier."

"Well, who's going to bunk with Escavalier? I'm not," Liepard reminded them.

Mawile sighed. "I'll take one for the team. But you guys owe me for this."

Boldore nodded gratefully to Mawile as the other girls got settled in.

* * *

So! This has been in the works for around a week now, and I finally present to you the finished product of episode one.

This is my first time trying something like this, so feedback is appreciated! Leave a review if you like (or even if you don't) to tell me what you liked or what you'd like to see improved.

Also, feel free to guess who will be eliminated next, or who will win. I'm writing this as it's being posted, so I will actually take feedback into account when choosing who the winner should be, and who's on the chopping block. (That's not to say the most popular character will necessarily win, but you know what I mean.)

So that's all for now! Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a fabulous day!

Jirachi: Don't forget to review! Bye!


	2. Water Surprise!

Here's a quick thanks to everyone who reviewed—your feedback is appreciated and has been taken into account. I really like hearing from the readers, so don't hesitate to review!

Also, I forgot to mention this last time—there is a poll up on my profile where you can vote for the Pokemon who you think should win Pokemon Drama Island. I'll take your opinions into account when choosing who to eliminate and who to keep.

That's all from me right now. Enjoy the episode!

* * *

"Hello, and welcome back to Pokemon Drama Island!" Jirachi announced. "Last episode, we introduced the thirty-two Pokemon that will be staying on this island and we split them into two teams. Today, the real fun begins—it's challenge time!"

"But before we do that, we're finally opening the confessional feature to the campers," Diancie added. "So let's see what they have to say first."

 **-static-**

 _(Author's Note: Confessionals will be written in bold to be easily distinguishable from the story.)_

 **"So, uh, things are looking pretty good right now," said Noivern contently. "I don't think I've made any enemies yet, and I've already got a couple of friends! Azurill and Castform are both pretty cool in my book."**

 **Noivern looked at the walls of the confessional. "I DO kind of want to ask why they made the confessional in an outhouse. But then again, I probably really don't."**

 **-static-**

 **"Looksss like I'm the sssecond one in here," Seviper said as she closed the confessional door behind her. "I've never played a game like thisss, but the premise is sssimple. I jussst won't make any alliancesss or make any big movesss; that should keep me from getting targeted."**

 **Seviper smiled at the camera. "I've got thisss all figured out."**

 **-static-**

 **"Aw man, I'm still so hungry after yesterday," complained Swinub. "Jirachi never let us have dinner, and we haven't had breakfast yet today…"**

 **Then he perked up. "But hey, at least Clauncher packed snacks with him! And he let me have some! It's not so bad!"**

 **-static-**

 **"I'll be honest, I don't know what to think of my team yet," Druddigon admitted. "I talked with a few of the guys last night—Chatot, Scrafty, Jolteon, Dusclops, and Cryogonal. Scrafty's too careless to be of any use in an alliance, and I'm not sure how strong Dusclops or Jolteon are. Cryogonal and Chatot look interesting, though—I'll keep an eye on them."**

 **-static-**

 **Chandelure sighed audibly, flipping a page in the book she was reading. "Chatting with my teammates isn't really my cup of tea," she told the camera. "I like to have some alone time. It lets me think more easily, which I'm going to want to be able to do if I want to stay in this game longer. I'm making a plan in my head as we speak of who to eliminate, and how I should get them out. If I can follow through with it, I shouldn't be on the chopping block at elimination ceremonies, at least not for a while."**

 **Chandelure snapped her book closed. "And then I'll walk home one million dollars richer. The end."**

 **-static-**

 **Reuniclus was playing a game on his 3DS. "So Jirachi said it's okay to bring video games here," said Reuniclus excitedly. "Which is great, because I'm admittedly a bit addicted to them. Clauncher seems to like them, too—we both talked last night before Clauncher gave Swinub some food to stop his complaining."**

 **Reuniclus looked thoughtful. "Maybe I should try to ally with him…? I've never been in an alliance before. Hm."**

 **"Nah, I'll wait until after our first challenge. That way I can gauge how strong of a competitor he is," Reuniclus said. "That's a good plan."**

 **-static-**

 **"Most of the Pokemon on this island are evolved," Azurill said, looking a bit nervous. "Which I normally don't care about too much, but what if there's a bunch of strength-based challenges? Sure, I have the Huge Power ability, but I'm still an Azurill! I don't want to be the first one packing because I'm weak! I'll have to use my brain to keep me in the game."**

 **-static-**

 **Clefairy was hitting the ceiling with a flyswatter for some reason. "La la la, la la la!"**

 **-static-**

 **"My team's not so bad," Vaporeon said. "Sure, we've got teammates like Clefairy, who are more…eccentric, but if we have a leader who can keep her in line, we should do fine."**

 **"That brings up the question of who's going to lead us, though. I'm not big on leadership roles," Vaporeon said. "Hopefully somebody else steps up."**

 **-static-**

Vaporeon stepped out of the confessional after a minute. "So is that the last of them?" Jirachi asked Diancie. "Doesn't look like there's any more of them waiting to use the confessional."

"Okay, so we'll move on then," said Diancie. She pulled out a large megaphone. "HEY! CAMPERS! THIS IS DIANCIE! REPORT TO THE CAFETERIA, NOW!"

"SOME OF US WERE TRYING TO SLEEP IN, YOU KNOW!" Scrafty shouted back.

Diancie turned the megaphone on again. "I DON'T CARE. GET TO THE CAFETERIA, YOU HOODLUM."

Inside the cabin, Scrafty groaned. "Maaaan…I was hoping these challenges would start later. We only got one night of sleep!"

"Be thankful we did. Even if it's our first challenge, I doubt those hosts are going to take it easy on us," Druddigon said.

Scrafty shrugged and pulled out a cigarette. Druddigon swiped it out of his hand.

"Not in here, you idiot."

"Hey!"

 **-static-**

 **"Way to rain on my parade," Scrafty grumbled grouchily. He pulled out another cigarette and lit it. "At least I can smoke in peace in here…"**

 **Scrafty laughed nervously as smoke began filling the confessional. "On second thought, maybe Druddigon was right, I shouldn't be smoking in enclosed spaces."**

 **-static-**

The campers had all gotten up slowly and were now filing into the cafeteria through the main entrance. Torchic was looking a bit dazed because he had tumbled out of bed at the sound of a megaphone. Tyranitar occasionally steered Torchic in the right direction if he stumbled the wrong way.

Once everyone was inside, Jirachi quieted them down. "Okay, everyone, take a seat," he said. "Gastrodons' table is on the left, Milotics' table is on the right."

The campers situated themselves as Jirachi instructed. Amoonguss looked less than thrilled to be sitting by Clefairy.

Swinub raised a hand politely before Jirachi could speak. "What, Swinub?" sighed Jirachi.

"Can we have breakfast?" asked Swinub hopefully.

"Nope!" Jirachi denied him cheerfully. Swinub hung his head. "You'll be served breakfast AFTER the challenge!"

"Why?" asked Mawile.

"Because food is good motivation, is it not?" Jirachi said. "Anyway, onto the reason why you're all here—your first challenge begins today, as soon as I explain it."

Some campers like Clauncher and Clefairy looked excited at the prospect of a challenge, while Zoroark growled quietly and Chandelure frowned.

"What's the challenge?" asked Minun right away.

"Good question! If you'd all be so kind as to follow me, I'll show you," Jirachi said. He floated through the cafeteria exit, with Diancie following behind. The campers got up and began following the hosts.

Baltoy looked into the distance as far as he could see. It appeared that on one side of the island, there was a large cliff towering over a lake below, and Jirachi was leading them toward it.

 **-static-**

 **"Anything involving cliffs immediately can't be good," Baltoy said. "Red flags, people."**

 **-static-**

"That's one big cliff," breathed Noivern in awe as the campers approached the steep ascent of the cliff.

"Correct. As a matter of fact, this is the tallest cliff on this side of the planet," bragged Jirachi with a smirk. "Which is probably the only reason this island cost so much money to rent. But anyway—"

"We're not…jumping off the cliff or anything, are we?" asked Seviper nervously. "I'm afraid of heightsss."

Jirachi grinned at her evilly. "Well, well, somebody hit the nail on the head. Your challenge DOES involve jumping off this cliff."

Torchic fainted on the spot. Swinub propped him up using his head.

 **-static-**

 **"Are they crazy?" Seviper practically shouted. "They can't make usss jump off a cliff! It's probably not even legal!"**

 **"It's perfectly legal!" Jirachi shouted from the outside. "Nobody ever made laws regarding cliff jumping!"**

 **"Sssomebody help me," Seviper groaned.**

 **-static-**

Jirachi teleported the campers atop the cliff, where they looked down to see a lake at the bottom. "Fortunately for all of you, it wouldn't be legal to have you jump off a cliff without any safety precautions. There's a lake at the bottom; if you land in the lake, you should avoid any injury."

"And what if somebody doesn't make it in?" asked Chesnaught, raising an eyebrow.

"Clinic is that way," Jirachi said, jerking his head to the left. Several campers looked at each other nervously. "Now we'll get to the good stuff. Diancie, would you care to explain the challenge?"

"Sure," Diancie agreed. "So, if you'd like to take a closer look, there is a large ring within the lake. This ring plays a role in our challenge today."

Dusclops peered over the edge and saw a ring roughly a quarter of the size of the lake floating in the lake's center; the lake wasn't very big, so it wasn't saying much. "What's the ring for?" he inquired.

"The point of this challenge is to score your team points," Diancie explained. "By jumping from the cliff and landing in the lake, you earn your team points! If you land in the lake outside the ring, you earn your team one point. If you land inside the ring, however, you earn TWO. The team with the most points by the end has an advantage in the second part of today's challenge."

"Oh, and if you choose not to jump at all…" Jirachi paused and held up a hat shaped like a Torchic's head. "You wear the Torchic Hat of Shame because you're a chicken."

"And what if we jump but don't make it in the lake?" Jolteon asked. "You haven't covered that yet."

"Um…well, you're going to end up in a lot of pain," Jirachi replied. "Also you earn no points because you must be horrible at jumping to miss a lake that big."

"Fair enough," muttered Jolteon.

 **-static-**

 **"I guess the hosts are starting the show with a bang," Mawile said. "Jumping off a cliff? That's no easy first challenge. And from what they said earlier, that's not even the end; there's a challenge AFTER this one."**

 **"I hope the challenges get easier after this," Mawile said hopefully. "I…don't like heights."**

 **-static-**

"Ya heard the man," Chatot squawked. "Somebody's gotta go first."

"I'm not going first," Zoroark said, folding his arms. "This is ridiculous. Jumping off a cliff just to win a stupid challenge? I'd rather keep all my bones intact than win a challenge, thanks."

"If we lose and you're the only one who didn't jump, I think you can guess who we're sending home," Cryogonal replied. "Weigh the consequences before you decide, Zoroark."

"Don't tell me what to do, snowflake," Zoroark snarled. Cryogonal scoffed and looked away.

"Calm down, guys. Really," Castform said, intervening. "If enough of the Gastrodons don't jump, then not all of us will have to jump, either. Just enough to beat them."

"So let's wait ta see how many of them jump," Chatot said. "Nice idea, Castform."

"Thanks," Castform grinned.

 **-static-**

 **"I wasn't sure how to feel about Chatot at first, but he doesn't seem so bad," Castform said. "He's definitely a lot different than anyone else here, but he actually seems pretty smart. I think he'll be around for a while."**

 **-static-**

"Looks like the other team is waiting for something," Mienshao said, glancing over at the Milotics. "Maybe we should just have somebody jump."

"Okay. Any volunteers?" Lilligant asked, looking around at her teammates. None of them looked too enthusiastic.

"I'll do it," Minun said. "Better than standing around and waiting for everyone else."

Minun did a running dash towards the edge of the cliff, and as she jumped off, she performed a series of acrobatic flips before landing in the two-point ring.

 **-static-**

 **"Damn," said Kakuna, looking astonished.**

 **-static-**

 **"I…think I might have underestimated her," said Frillish. "She did that jump pretty much perfectly."**

 **"As a Water-type, though, I can probably do better," she said, smirking confidently.**

 **-static-**

"I'll go next. This should be a cakewalk for a Water-type like me," said Frillish. She flung herself over the edge and landed in the one point zone, barely outside of the ring.

Frillish swore under her breath. "I was so close!" she said. "If my team's mad at me for missing the two-point zone, I could get voted out for this…"

"Who's next? We have two jumpers for the Great Gastrodons, and they've scored three points," Jirachi tallied up the total.

"FOR GLORYYYYY!" screamed Escavalier, flinging herself off the cliff. She landed with a splash in the lake for one point.

"That wasn't bad, but we'll need bettah if we want ta beat those Gastrodons," Chatot said. "Anyone else?"

"I'll do it," said Dusclops with a shrug. "I'm not really afraid of heights."

Chatot gave the ghost a nod, and Dusclops charged off the cliff, landing in the lake for one point as well. The teams had the same amount of Pokemon left, but the Gastrodons led by a point.

"They're still winning," Baltoy said, frowning. "We need somebody else to go, and we need them to score two points. Who here is good at jumping?"

Jolteon, Azurill, Noivern, and Mawile all raised their hands. "I'll go if nobody else wants to," offered Azurill quickly.

"Have at it," said Jolteon. Azurill sprinted across the rocks and dove into the water below, scoring two points. The Milotics had one more point than the Gastrodons now.

"They're not doing bad over there," remarked Lopunny from the Gastrodons' side. "We should send down a good jumper to tip the scales again. Vaporeon, you're good at diving, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I've done my share of diving before," Vaporeon said. "Here goes nothing."

Vaporeon performed a dive almost as good as Minun's, and hers landed her in the ring as well. Zoroark growled in frustration. The Gastrodons had good players.

"Let me try!" shouted Clauncher, breaking into an Aqua Jet and shooting himself downward. He splashed in the two-point zone.

"Oh, man. The Gastrodons are killing it over here!" Jirachi exclaimed. "Milotics, you better pick up the pace or you're going to lose this one horribly."

"I'll go," volunteered Druddigon. His dive was well-executed and netted him two points.

"I'll keep us in the lead," Chesnaught said. He dove, but landed in the one point section. The Gastrodons still led by two points.

"Wow, we're doing really good!" Clefairy squeaked in her high-pitched voice. "Should I go?"

"Please do." Amoonguss shoved her off the cliff. Clefairy's screams carried all the way down the cliff until she splashed into the one-point zone.

Lopunny and Lilligant fixed him with a glare. "What? I pushed her into the water," Amoonguss said defensively.

 **-static-**

 **"Amoonguss is such a jerk," said Lilligant. "He's been nothing but mean and sarcastic the whole time here, and now he's pushing people off cliffs. He's not exactly winning any popularity contests right now."**

 **-static-**

 **"I'm not here to make friends," Amoonguss said, folding his arms. "If they don't like the way I operate, fine. That's their problem and not mine."**

 **-static-**

"If you're so intent on having us win that you're willing to push a teammate, why don't you jump yourself?" Mienshao asked Amoonguss, fixing him with an intense glare.

Amoonguss looked annoyed that the others were pressuring him. "Because unlike all of you freaks, I'm not crazy enough to jump off a cliff."

Mienshao watched him for a moment before whispering something to Lilligant. "Okay, Lilligant, let's jump," Mienshao said. "If Amoonguss won't do it, we'll need to make up for his lack of effort."

Amoonguss rolled his eyes as Mienshao scored a two and Lilligant earned a one.

"Um…are any more Milotics jumping? The Gastrodons literally have twice as many points as your team," Jirachi pointed out to Chatot.

"Hey. Mawile, you're not a bad jumper, are ya?" Chatot asked.

"Well…no, I'm not, but I'm afraid of heights," Mawile said, glancing nervously down the cliff.

"I see," Chatot said, rubbing his head with a wing. "That puts us in a tight spot. I don't know who else is going to jump."

"I'll do it," Noivern volunteered. She did a flip and used her wings to slow her descent into the lake. She earned two points for the Milotics.

"Hey, that was cheap," Jirachi complained. "You can't use your wings like that!"

"You didn't make a rule against it," Diancie pointed out.

"Diancie, you're supposed to be on MY side!"

Castform floated off the cliff next, and using her levitation to slow her fall, she also earned a two. Liepard jumped and managed a two by luck as well.

The scores were now tied, and both teams had about the same amount of players left. Kakuna hopped over to Tyranitar and nudged the bigger Pokemon in the leg.

"Hey, go ahead and toss me down," Kakuna said. "I…I don't exactly LIKE the idea of being thrown off of a cliff, but I want to help the team."

Tyranitar picked him up and held him carefully over the edge. "Last chance to back out," offered Tyranitar.

"Do it," said Kakuna. Tyranitar whipped him over the side harder than he intended, and Kakuna only managed to score one.

"Come on, guys! We can do this!" Lopunny said encouragingly to her teammates. Reuniclus watched her intently as she jumped and landed in the two-point zone.

 **-static-**

 **"Don't get me wrong—I didn't come here for romance, since relationships only get in the way, and I want to play my best while I'm here," Reuniclus said. "But holy hell, that girl is hot."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon volunteered to go for the Milotics, and he earned them a point. After some convincing, Reuniclus from the Gastrodons went as well, only scoring one. The number of campers remaining atop the cliff was shrinking rapidly.

"I'll go," said Chatot finally. "I guess I need ta set a good example for mah team."

Chatot unfolded his wings to try to slow his descent like Noivern did, but the wind picked up as he was doing so, and he was knocked into the side of the cliff, tumbling down until he hit the bottom. He wasn't seriously injured, but he earned no points.

 **-static-**

 **"If mah team loses, I don't think mah performance today went ovah well," Chatot muttered. "Stupid wind."**

 **-static-**

Baltoy reluctantly went after Chatot, but he toppled over the edge and barely even made it into the lake. He earned one point. Cryogonal followed up for the Milotics, earning two. Scrafty blew a ring of smoke, not seeming to care about the scores.

"Aren't you going to jump?" asked Zoroark.

"Why? We're winning," said Scrafty with a grin.

"Yeah. By one point. And you haven't done anything for our team yet," said Zoroark crossly, folding his arms.

"Neither have you," retorted Scrafty. Zoroark scowled.

"Okay, the Milotics are winning by just one point," Jirachi announced. "Gastrodons, would you care to tip the scales in your favor again?"

Seviper slipped off the cliff without a word and earned two points. "Okay, the Gastrodons take the lead once more," Jirachi said. "Close game, guys. Both teams still have a chance!"

 **-static-**

 **"Even if nobody elssse from my team jumpsss, I think we'll win, because I don't think anyone from theirsss will either," Seviper said calmly. "Boldore and Chandelure are weak to water. I overheard Mawile sssaying she'sss afraid of heightsss, and Zoroark and Ssscrafty don't seem like the type to step up for their team. Easssy win."**

 **-static-**

Only nine Pokemon remained on top of the cliff. On the Milotics' side, Zoroark was glaring at Scrafty, who was sitting on a rock, kicking the dirt with his feet. Chandelure was reading her book, but she glanced up occasionally to see if anyone had jumped. Boldore and Mawile were both looking nervously over the edge.

On the Gastrodons' team, Tyranitar, Torchic, Swinub, and Amoonguss remained. Swinub was prodding Torchic with a stick, still trying to wake him up from when he had fainted earlier.

 **-static-**

 **"I get that he's afraid of cliffs, but come on! Sometimes you have to live a little and face your fears," Swinub said.**

 **-static-**

Mawile took a deep breath. "Okay. Here I go."

"Whoa, you're actually doing the jump? Mad props to you," said Scrafty with a grin.

Mawile looked confused by Scrafty's jargon, but seconds later she jumped. She splashed into the lake within the ring, earning two points for the Milotics. Their team was ahead once more.

"Way to go, Mawile!" Dusclops cheered from the shore. "We've got this in the bag! I don't think any of the Gastrodons are jumping."

"They'd better jump, or we'll lose," Mienshao grumbled. "We can't afford to lose. Not the first challenge."

"Somebody jump!" Clauncher yelled up at the Gastrodons.

"No thanks!" Amoonguss yelled back.

Tyranitar frowned. "Come on, Amoonguss. You're the only one left who isn't sensitive to water. All you have to do is land in that ring, and if none of them jump, we win."

Amoonguss crossed his arms. "What part of 'no' don't you get, Godzilla?"

Torchic let out a huge gasp as he woke up. "I had this terrible nightmare where I was going to jump off a cliff!" Torchic told Swinub. "And I…oh. I think I'll just go faint again."

"No no no, don't do that!" Swinub pleaded. "Torchic, we need two more points to win! Amoonguss won't jump, Tyranitar would sink in the lake, and I…don't know how to swim."

Torchic quivered in fear. "D-don't put pressure on me! I don't th-think I can do this!"

Swinub looked at Torchic fiercely. "Come on, Torchic! Be brave! I know you can do this!"

Torchic breathed in and out quickly. He had to be fearless! If he didn't jump, his team would be mad for sure! And then he'd be voted off.

Torchic inhaled and exhaled once more before letting out a shout that was rather fierce for a small chicken. He charged at full speed toward the edge of the cliff and screamed loudly the whole way down.

Jirachi peeked over the edge to see where Torchic had landed. "Well, what do you know? Two points! The Great Gastrodons are winning again!"

The Great Gastrodons along the shoreline cheered loudly. Chesnaught grinned approvingly at Torchic as the little Fire-type climbed out of the lake. Clefairy and Minun began cheering Torchic's name.

Jirachi looked back at the remaining campers. "So, if nobody else from the Milotics is jumping, the Gastrodons win. What's it gonna be?"

Boldore looked away guiltily. Chandelure looked Jirachi in the eyes. "Hey, if I jump in that water, I'm literally dead. I can decline that offer guilt free."

"You have an excuse," Jirachi admitted. "What about you two, Zoroark and Scrafty?"

Zoroark shook his head and Scrafty shrugged. "It's all chill, man. You said that there were two parts to this challenge, so we'll just win the second one," said Scrafty.

"Okay. So it seems that the Great Gastrodons win the first part of our challenge!" Jirachi announced. The Great Gastrodons all cheered at once. The Marvelous Milotics looked a bit put out that they had lost so easily. Some of them cast glares at Zoroark and Scrafty, who both could have easily jumped.

Diancie gestured for the campers to follow her. "Follow me, guys. We're doing part two of the challenge now."

She led the campers down to the lake where they had just dived into. Jirachi telekinetically removed the ring from the lake and tossed it aside. "Our second challenge also takes place in the lake!" Diancie announced.

"Wait, 'in the lake?' We're going _into_ the lake again? Aw," Tyranitar groaned. "I'm no good at water challenges."

"So what's up this time?" asked Castform. "We just jumped into the lake from all the way at the top of the cliff. Whatever you have next can't be anywhere near as bad."

"Oh, you'd be surprised what we have up our sleeves," Diancie said with a chuckle. "But you are correct in saying that the second part of this challenge is quite a bit tamer. In this challenge, you'll be diving into the lake in order to _retrieve_ something from it."

"Hidden somewhere in the lake is a locked chest," Jirachi explained. "Your task is to find the locked chest and bring it to the surface. That's it. The first team to do so wins."

"What about our advantage in the second part of the challenge?" asked Chesnaught.

"You get to send THREE people to search the lake," Jirachi told him. "They only get to send one. That should be enough of an advantage over the Milotics. But that's not to say that they can't make a comeback, so search diligently!"

"That's not too hard, honestly," Vaporeon said. "I can breathe underwater, and the lake isn't that big. I should be able to find it in a matter of minutes."

"Oh, if it only it were that convenient," Jirachi said, smiling evilly. "This lake gets exceptionally dark the deeper you go, and we've, uh, hired a few Basculin and Sharpedo to guard the chest."

"What?" yelped Frillish. "You're not serious!"

"Oh, but I am!" Jirachi cackled. "Clearly you didn't read the contract you signed when you signed up for the show. ANYWAYS. Get to it, campers!"

 **-static-**

 **"Underwater searching? Easy," Vaporeon said. "Add Basculin and Sharpedo, and that's a whole different story. Not to mention that I can't see too well in the dark, and the hosts probably hid the chest deeper on purpose…"**

 **-static-**

"Okay, who here is good at swimmin'?" asked Chatot.

Baltoy groaned. "We have no Water-types. We're so screwed."

Dusclops raised his hand. "Um, not entirely. I don't actually need to breathe, so I can go underwater if I have to."

"Ya have to," Chatot said gruffly. "We've got no one else, so don't screw this one up, pal."

Dusclops gulped. "You got it."

 **-static-**

 **"Sheesh, way to lay on the pressure!" Dusclops said nervously. "I don't deal with pressure well! I just hope I find the chest before the other team does."**

 **-static-**

Chesnaught looked over at the Milotics before turning back to his team. "There's no way we can lose this one. They have nobody that can breathe underwater."

"Take another look," said Kakuna. Chesnaught turned around again to see Dusclops submerging into the water. "Clearly Dusclops is up to something, or they wouldn't send him."

"Okay, let's get Vaporeon, Clauncher, and Frillish in the water," Lopunny ordered. "Dusclops might be up to something, but we've still got three-to-one odds here."

Vaporeon, Clauncher, and Frillish leaped into the water after Dusclops. Cryogonal shook his head.

 **-static-**

 **"Dusclops is probably a good player, but he's up against three Pokemon who are specifically adapted to be able to navigate through water easily," Cryogonal sighed. "It's hard to have faith that we're going to win."**

 **-static-**

Dusclops sank lower and lower into the lake until he felt his…lack of feet touch the bottom. He couldn't see very well in the dark, so he felt around with his hands. He found nothing except rocks.

"Well, it's not going to be in the first place I search," Dusclops said. "Better check some other places."

 **-static-**

"Let's split up," said Clauncher, some bubbles streaming from his mouth as he spoke underwater. "We cover more ground that way."

Vaporeon nodded and Frillish started swimming in a different direction. Clauncher drifted a bit lower and started searching there. He turned a corner and came face to face with a Sharpedo.

"Uh…hi there?" squeaked Clauncher. The Sharpedo grinned meanly and began chasing Clauncher.

"HELP ME!" he screamed as the Sharpedo caught him and dragged him into an underwater cave.

 **-static-**

 **Clauncher was shaking in the confessional, looking traumatized and heavily bruised. "Never again."**

 **-static-**

Vaporeon turned a corner and saw a chest gleaming at the bottom of the lake.

"Wow. I didn't think it'd be so easy," she said to herself. She swam down quickly until she heard a subtle click. She stopped in her tracks as she noticed the tripwire she had set off. Rocks began tumbling down towards her.

 **-static-**

 **"Jirachi said nothing about traps!" protested Vaporeon. "Nothing!"**

 **-static-**

Vaporeon dodged nimbly out of the way of the falling rocks, but the rocks had gotten lodged between the side of the lake and a massive wall, preventing her from getting through that way.

Vaporeon sighed. Time to try a new approach.

 **-static-**

Frillish scanned the bottom of the lake. Her vision in the dark was better than that of most Pokemon, but even she was having difficulty here. Unfortunately, this meant she didn't notice the Basculin creeping up on her until he was inches away.

"Hey there, pinky," the Basculin whispered. Frillish screamed out of fright and began swimming away. The Basculin cackled as she sped off.

 **-static-**

Dusclops heard loud rumbling nearby and saw rocks tumbling down, closing the gap between the pathway he had just been about to go through.

Dusclops turned around and began to look for another way through, when suddenly he stopped—the locked chest was just across the room.

 **-static-**

 **"It's a good thing those rocks came tumbling down, actually," Dusclops admitted. "I would have left the room otherwise and not even noticed the chest. Today's my lucky day, I guess."**

 **-static-**

Dusclops picked up the chest with some effort. "This thing's heavy," he said, his voice coming out distorted underwater. He tried swimming upward with it, but it was too much to carry. He'd have to find somewhere where the walls were steeped, so he could walk it to the surface.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Frillish came screaming into the room, tailed by a snarling Basculin that was snapping at her with its jaws. Frillish looked to Dusclops for help.

 **-static-**

 **"Stupid conscience," Dusclops muttered. "I should have let the Basculin attack her."**

 **-static-**

The Basculin was suddenly hurled against the wall by a Shadow Punch to its side. It fell to the floor, unconscious. Dusclops glanced up to where Frillish was to ask if she was okay, but he noticed she wasn't there.

Dusclops whirled around and saw Frillish snatching the chest and swimming toward the surface. Dusclops sprinted over and jumped up, grabbing Frillish just barely.

"Let it go!" Dusclops shouted. "I found that!"

"Hey, I stole it fair and square!" Frillish protested. "You fell for the trap! It's not my fault."

Dusclops scowled and blasted her with a Shadow Ball. Frillish fell to the ground, unconscious. Dusclops looked at her guiltily.

"Yeah, I'm not leaving her here," Dusclops muttered. He hoisted the chest up in one hand and slung Frillish over his shoulder with the other and began to walk toward the surface.

 **-static-**

"The winners are the Marvelous Milotics!"

The Marvelous Milotics cheered at Dusclops's victory as the Great Gastrodons stared in shock. Dusclops set Frillish down in the sand and gently placed the locked chest down in front of himself.

"So…are we supposed to unlock this thing somehow?" Dusclops asked Jirachi.

"One moment, please," Jirachi said. He snapped his fingers, and Vaporeon and Clauncher appeared on the beach, the latter looking worse for wear. "That's something I wanted to explain. You see, this chest contains something very important; a prize that could be very valuable to anyone here!"

"So what is it?" Zoroark scoffed. "It can't be THAT important."

"Oh, but it is! Because you see, contained within this chest is an immunity idol!" Jirachi said. "If you have it, you can save yourself from elimination one time by using it! But since it's stuck in this chest, you need to find the key to obtain it."

"And where's the key?" asked Liepard, knowing she wouldn't get a direct answer.

"If I told you, then anyone could get it," Jirachi replied, rolling his eyes. "It won't be that easy! It's hidden somewhere on this island, though—during your spare time, you can try searching for it. It might save you when you really need it."

"That's useful," Scrafty murmured to himself. "If I got that, the others couldn't vote me out when they wanted to…and then I could get my hands on that money for sure!"

"Unfortunately, one of you will be leaving before they even get the chance to search for the immunity idol!" Jirachi said. "Great Gastrodons, you lost. I'll admit I was surprised. I didn't think Dusclops would pull it off."

"Gee, thanks," muttered Dusclops. Noivern snickered.

"But he did! So the Gastrodons are losing a teammate tonight," Jirachi announced.

"We can have breakfast now, right?" interrupted Swinub.

Jirachi sighed. "Yes, Swinub. You can have breakfast."

 **-static-**

The cafeteria was filled with all of the campers as they were finally served their first meal on the island. Diancie was serving them pancakes with three kinds of syrup. Swinub licked his plate clean and went back for seconds.

"Okay, but just this once," Diancie said reluctantly, unable to deny Swinub's adorable charm. The pig squealed happily.

"This stuff is pretty good!" Clefairy said. "Diancie, you're really good at cooking!"

"They're just pancakes," said Diancie, though she looked pleased at the compliment.

"Ssso now we have to decide who to sssend home," Seviper reminded Mienshao. "Who do you think ssshould go?"

"I talked it over with Lilligant, and she said she'd convince Minun to vote with us. If my plan works out, we should be able to send home anyone we want, since the majority vote wins. Would you vote with us?"

"Sssure," said Seviper, though she was a bit suspicious. Had Mienshao made an alliance this early?

 **-static-**

 **"I'm glad that sssomebody wantsss me on their ssside, but Mienssshao's talked Lilligant and Minun into working with her sssomehow," Seviper said with a frown. "I don't know that I trussst her yet."**

 **-static-**

 **"Seviper didn't seem entirely convinced that my plan would work," Mienshao said. "It's her loss if she doesn't want in with my alliance, really. I already got Lilligant to work with me; we have a common enemy in Amoonguss, and she seems like a good enough player. Hopefully we're able to recruit Minun."**

 **-static-**

"You did good today," Clauncher said to Torchic. "It was really brave of you to jump off that cliff for the team. I don't know that I would have been able to do it in that situation, even!"

"Y-you did good too," Torchic said with a smile. "E-even if you didn't w-win, you fought for that chest."

Clauncher winced. "Don't remind me."

"Sorry."

Swinub sat down next to Torchic, his plate stacked with a second helping. "You guys want some?" he offered.

"No thanks," Clauncher said. "Who do you guys think we should vote off? I don't want to get rid of anyone, but we have to send someone home tonight."

"Yeah, I guess we do," Swinub said. "Hm…who didn't perform well in the challenge today? That's a good start."

"Well, Tyranitar, Amoonguss, and you didn't jump," Clauncher said. "So you're probably going to get some votes."

"I don't want to go home!" Swinub wailed.

"Whoa, calm down. You won't, most likely," Clauncher stated calmly. "I'm just listing candidates people might vote for. Tyranitar or Amoonguss will probably get more votes than you will."

Swinub sighed, partly in relief and partly in worry. "I hope so."

 **-static-**

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully. Jolteon went out in the woods to search for the key that opened the locked chest, but he gave up after about an hour, losing motivation. Escavalier played poker against Azurill and Castform in the Milotics' cabin, and Escavalier was not happy about losing to Azurill.

Meanwhile the Gastrodons were filled with worry that any of them could be voted off. Tyranitar and Reuniclus discussed elimination plans, and Reuniclus caught Minun sneaking off with Lilligant behind the cabins. He was about to mention it to Tyranitar when the intercom in the center of camp blared to life.

"CAMPERS! WELL, GASTRODONS SPECIFICALLY! MEET US AT THE CAMPFIRE AREA NORTH OF CAMP! IT'S ELIMINATION TIME!"

"Oh boy," drawled Amoonguss. The Gastrodons slowly filed into the campfire area.

 **-static-**

Once everyone had taken a seat by the campfire, Jirachi popped in. "Okay, guys! Since this is your first time here, I'll do some explaining. Each one of you may vote for one other Pokemon you want to eliminate from the island. The Pokemon with the most votes by the end of the ceremony will be sent packing. Self-explanatory, right?" Jirachi asked. The campers nodded. "Get to it!"

 **-static-**

 **"I'm honestly not worried about getting eliminated tonight," Kakuna said. "My performance was fine. But I am worried about Tyranitar, since he didn't jump. He IS a strong player, but I'm not sure the others will keep him just for that."**

 **-static-**

Jirachi twirled a tray of Pokeblocks on his finger as Lopunny walked out of the confessional after placing her vote. "That's all the votes, then," Jirachi said. He levitated the box of votes over and counted them. "Okay, here we go. When I call your name, you may come up and take a Pokeblock. If you have one, it means you are safe. Notice there is one less Pokeblock than there are campers." Jirachi watched their reactions carefully. "That means one of you will be leaving the island by the end of tonight."

"Get on with it," Amoonguss said. Jirachi frowned at him.

"Okay, I will. Come on up when your name is called. Chesnaught."

Chesnaught looked proud to be the first one to be safe. Jirachi continued listing names. "Lopunny, Vaporeon, Frillish, Reuniclus."

Lopunny and Vaporeon exchanged relieved looks, while Reuniclus seemed indifferent. Frillish looked relieved that her failure in the second challenge hadn't turned her team against her.

"Minun, Kakuna, Swinub, Clauncher." The campers all went up to claim their Pokeblocks. "Seviper."

Seviper smirked as she claimed hers. She glanced back at Mienshao, who had not come forth to claim hers. The weasel didn't appear worried.

"Clefairy, you're also safe," Jirachi said. Clefairy squealed, annoying Jirachi greatly. "I almost wish you weren't. Lilligant, you're also safe tonight."

Lilligant let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't thought that her teammates would vote for her, but being in the final five was stressful. She took her Pokeblock and ate it.

Jirachi looked at the final four. Tyranitar was fiddling with his claws anxiously. Torchic looked like he might faint again. Mienshao had her arms folded defiantly. Amoonguss looked nonplussed.

"Mienshao, come on up. You're good to go." Mienshao took her Pokeblock and walked over to Lilligant and Minun. "Now, we've only got three left."

"Please don't vote me out!" yelped Torchic.

"Relax, little guy. You're not the one wearing the Torchic Hat of Shame," Jirachi said with a smirk. He tossed Torchic a Pokeblock as Tyranitar and Amoonguss both awkwardly sat there wearing their Torchic hats.

"Now who's it going to be? The big guy who was afraid of an overgrown puddle or the mushroom who refused to do a damn thing?" Jirachi said. "Yeah, there's no point in even being suspenseful. Tyranitar, you're safe."

"What?! What do you mean I'm the first one out?" huffed Amoonguss. "This can't be right!"

"Oh, but it is. Maybe you should actually try next time. Oh wait, there isn't a next time!" Jirachi said. "Too bad. Follow me!"

Amoonguss grudgingly followed Jirachi back to the dock where he had first arrived on the island. A Lapras was waiting there. "Time to say your goodbyes, Amoonguss," Jirachi said. "You can use the confessional one last time and then leave on this Lapras."

 **-static-**

 **"Honestly, I'm HAPPY to be out of here. I'm not sure that living with these losers for the next few weeks would even be worth a million dollars," Amoonguss said angrily. "I hope they all lose. They're terrible teammates. I don't want anyone to win, but since somebody has to, it had better be someone from the Milotics' team."**

 **"Well, so long. The show must go on," Amoonguss grumbled.**

 **-static-**

Amoonguss boarded the Lapras as his team saw him off (though most, like Lopunny, were only there because everyone else was). After he left, they headed back to their cabins.

On the way, Reuniclus grabbed Minun and pulled her aside. "Hey, I saw you talking with Lilligant before the campfire ceremony," Reuniclus told her. "Are you guys…in an alliance already?"

Minun rubbed her arm awkwardly. "Well, um…okay, I'm terrible at lying, so yeah. I am. I don't know why Lilligant picked me," she said truthfully. "But I'm not one to turn down an offer like that. I've got two other strong players backing me up now. It's a win-win."

"Wait, two? Who else is in your alliance?" Reuniclus asked.

Minun's eyes widened. "Oh, shoot. You're probably not even supposed to know that much. I hate to be rude, but this isn't your business, okay? Stay out of it. I don't want my alliance to target you if they think you're a threat," she warned Reuniclus.

Reuniclus watched as Minun disappeared into her cabin. "Huh. I'll have to tell Tyranitar."

* * *

DUN DUN DUN! Alliances already! What diabolical schemes could they be cooking up?

So there's the first challenge! Amoonguss got booted, but his time on the island was short from the moment he set foot on it. First impressions matter, and he didn't make a good one. Plus he did nothing in the challenge. What a jerk.

Any predictions on who will go next? Or maybe you want to guess relationships or alliances? Leave a review! I'd love to hear your feedback. Don't forget to vote on the poll on my page!

Amoonguss: Review. Because you probably have nothing better to do.


	3. Duking it out in Dodgeball!

Hey there, friends. Here's chapter three!

And with it come the first poll results—Swinub and Noivern are currently leading the poll. If you like the story, go ahead and vote for who you think should win!

Anyways, it's story time now.

* * *

"Stupid lock."

Zoroark kicked the locked chest before letting out a shout of pain; the chest was significantly stronger than his foot. "Damn it! I can't even pick the lock!" Zoroark snarled.

"Having trouble?" Zoroark whirled around to see Baltoy leaning against the Milotics' cabin, smirking.

"What do YOU want?" Zoroark growled.

Baltoy whistled innocently. "Oh, nothing. I'm just entertaining myself by watching you fail," said Baltoy smugly.

Zoroark crossed his arms. "I'd like to see you do better."

Baltoy snorted derisively. "What, do you think I've found the key already? I can't open that chest any more than you can," Baltoy told Zoroark. "But being a Psychic-type does have its perks…I think I can figure out how to get into the warehouse."

Zoroark perked up at this. "Really? How?" he asked.

Baltoy smirked. "You don't think I'd just give up my information willingly, do you? What do you have to offer me in return?"

Zoroark scowled. He had nothing that Baltoy would want. "Why are you even telling me this?"

"Because you seem like the type of Pokemon who won't give up," Baltoy said. "You want that immunity idol, and you won't stop until you get into the chest. So I figured we could make a trade."

"The immunity idol for whatever's in the warehouse? You wish," snorted Zoroark. "I'm not THAT stupid. I'm not giving up the only thing that could prevent me from getting eliminated for whatever's in there."

"True. You don't even HAVE the idol, after all," said Baltoy snidely. "But don't forget the offer."

With that, Baltoy floated off. Zoroark watched as he disappeared around the corner.

 **-static-**

 **"What's he up to? There's no way he broke into the warehouse that easily," Zoroark said. "I'll figure out what his angle is sooner or later. And if he's trying to trick me, it'll be the last thing he does on this show."**

 **-static-**

Tyranitar walked behind the Gastrodons' cabin, glancing around to make sure he wasn't being followed. He saw Clauncher and Reuniclus waiting for him, and he walked over to them, looking confused.

"What's this about?" Tyranitar asked Reuniclus.

"I…think we might need to make an alliance," Reuniclus said. "I picked you two because you seem like the most reasonable Pokemon on the team."

"Wait, weren't you the guy who specifically said he wasn't going to make any alliances in episode one?" Clauncher asked, looking puzzled.

"Uh, yeah," Reuniclus said sheepishly. "I changed my mind."

 **-static-**

 **"I'm such a hypocrite," Reuniclus sighed.**

 **-static-**

"Why did you change your mind?" Tyranitar asked. "It seems a bit early in the game to be looking for an alliance, after all."

"I was going to talk to you yesterday, before the elimination ceremony began," Reuniclus told Tyranitar. "But then Diancie called us down, so I had to wait."

"Go on," Tyranitar prompted. "Something made you change your mind."

"I saw Minun being led behind the cabin by Lilligant. When I talked to Minun after the ceremony, she said she'd allied with Lilligant and somebody else," Reuniclus informed him. "It was the first challenge, dude! Our team is already making alliances! If we don't do something about it, we could get voted out, too! There's strength in numbers, especially during voting, which was something I hadn't considered back when I said I wouldn't make any alliances."

"That is a bit odd," Clauncher said, scratching his head with a claw. "And you didn't catch who the last member of Lilligant's alliance was?"

"No," said Reuniclus regretfully. "Minun wouldn't tell me. So…what do you guys think?"

"I'm in," said Tyranitar after thinking it over.

Clauncher shrugged. "I guess I'm in, as long as we're not sabotaging anyone else. That's not the kind of alliance I want to be in."

"We won't sabotage anyone," promised Reuniclus. "And you can trust me to keep my word on that. You wanna go play some games, Clauncher?"

Clauncher brightened up. "Sure! That sounds great."

 **-static-**

 **"I'm glad I've made an alliance with some of the other guys already," Tyranitar admitted. "But I was thinking of allying with Kakuna earlier, too. I wonder if they'd be opposed to having anyone join the alliance?"**

 **-static-**

Most of the Marvelous Milotics were happily chatting in the center of camp, celebrating their victory against the Gastrodons during the last challenge.

Escavalier was carving her name into a tree with one of her pointed arms. Boldore watched from a few feet away. "What're you looking at, Rocky?" Escavalier said suddenly, turning to Boldore.

Boldore flinched at Escavalier's fierce tone before tapping one of her legs in the dirt a few times. Cryogonal noticed this and his eyes widened.

 **-static-**

 **"I…I thought Boldore just couldn't speak. It wasn't until then that I realized she probably just thought none of us could understand her," Cryogonal said with realization. "She was using Morse code to talk to Escavalier!"**

 **-static-**

Cryogonal floated over to Boldore. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Boldore looked confused but followed Cryogonal into the woods. He turned around and faced her. "So…I was, uh, watching when you were with Escavalier."

Boldore blinked. Cryogonal couldn't tell what her reaction was. "Okay, I'll just get to the point. You know Morse code, don't you?"

Boldore's eyes went wide before she jumped up and down excitedly, causing slight tremors in the ground. She tapped the ground a few times in a pattern.

Cryogonal watched as she tapped. "'Yes.' So you do," Cryogonal said. "I know Morse code, too. It's probably a lot less lonely when somebody understands you, huh?"

Boldore nodded vigorously. She walked over and performed a series of short and long taps against a tree trunk.

"You want me to translate for you?" Cryogonal repeated, interpreting her message. "Okay, I get it. You want to help the team, so I can help you do that. Sure, I'll help."

Boldore's face lit up with as much excitement as a rock could muster. Cryogonal turned away and hid a smile.

 **-static-**

"What are you reading there?" asked Mawile curiously. She was sitting on a bench not far from where Chandelure was reading a novel.

"Oh, this?" Chandelure asked, peering over the top of her book. "It's something my brother wrote. He likes to write, I like to read. It's a beneficial relationship."

"That's neat," Mawile commented. "So you two talk a lot?"

Chandelure shrugged. "Not as much as we used to. Why does it matter?"

"I was just curious, that's all. I never had any siblings," explained Mawile. "How's the book?"

"Good."

"That's good."

 **-static-**

Jolteon was about to investigate the woods again in search of the key when he heard a voice behind him. "Hey. Can we talk for a moment?"

Jolteon turned and saw Chatot standing there. "About what?" asked Jolteon a bit suspiciously. He had never really talked to Chatot during his time on the island.

"I want ta discuss some game plans," Chatot explained. "I invited Dusclops, Cryogonal, and Druddigon, but I don't know if Dusclops or Cryogonal are comin'. It'll be quick."

Jolteon decided he had nothing to lose by hearing Chatot out. "Okay, so what's up?"

"We won yestahday pretty easily," Chatot said. "But I don't think future challenges are gonna be quite that easy. So I wanted ta have some folks ta back me up in the game. In return, I'll back ya up as well—you in?"

"You mean as in we vote together?" Jolteon asked. "Like an alliance?"

"I didn't want to call it an alliance, really," Chatot said, frowning. "Alliances are usually up to no good; we'd just be votin' together, that's all."

Jolteon thought about it in his head. On one hand, Chatot seemed like a smart player, and he had Druddigon backing him up already, assuming he was telling the truth. On the other hand, alliances and the like were generally targeted because they were too powerful. Jolteon didn't want to get caught in the crossfire just because he was associated with Chatot.

"I'll think about it," Jolteon replied. Chatot nodded his head and tipped his hat to Jolteon.

"Well, if ya decide you want in, we're meetin' tomorrow. Talk to me tonight if you're still willin' to listen."

Chatot left without another word. Jolteon decided to search for the key later.

 **-static-**

 **"If everyone I invited decides to join and vote with me, I'll have five votes under mah control," Chatot said. "I don't think they will, which is why I invited so many. Having Druddigon already significantly increases mah power."**

 **-static-**

 **Druddigon sat in the confessional with a frown. "I accepted Chatot's offer when he asked me to vote with him," Druddigon said. "It was a bit of a bold move on my part to take sides this early, but Chatot seems smart enough. And if he isn't, I'm not afraid to vote him out if it comes down to it."**

 **"Survival of the fittest," said Druddigon with a smirk. "Chatot's playing a good game right now, gathering players to add to his voting power during elimination ceremonies. I might actually have to vote him out no matter what, because he's going to be a threat sooner or later."**

 **-static-**

"You both did good last night. Thank you for voting with me," Mienshao said to Lilligant and Minun. They were meeting in the woods this time. "I assure you that your trust was not misplaced, and I'd like it if our alliance were to continue, at least until the teams are dissolved."

"I don't have any problems with that," said Lilligant. "It worked out well last night."

"And you, Minun?" asked Mienshao.

Minun kicked the dirt guiltily. "Um, Mienshao, I have a bit of a confession to make."

Mienshao's expression darkened. Generally those words didn't mean good news was coming. "What is it, Minun?" the weasel asked hesitantly.

"Reuniclus cornered me after the campfire last night," Minun confessed. "And I ended up telling him about the alliance on accident."

Mienshao groaned internally. She had placed her trust in only two Pokemon, and already one of them had screwed up. "What did you tell him?" asked Mienshao sharply.

"I…I told him I was in an alliance with Lilligant and one other Pokemon. I caught myself before I slipped up again," Minun mumbled. "I didn't mean to tell anyone, I swear! He came asking ME about it."

"Okay, that's not too bad," Mienshao said. "Reuniclus doesn't seem like an idiot, but he doesn't seem particularly threatening, either. Just don't mess up again," she told Minun. "We can't afford to have the whole team knowing about our alliance. If we're exposed, the team will see us as a threat and vote us out."

"So…is this alliance thing even a good idea, then?" asked Lilligant doubtfully. "I'm having some second thoughts here."

"Right now, we're fine. Any more slipups and maybe we won't be," Mienshao said. "Just to be safe, I think we should cover our tracks…we should eliminate Reuniclus."

 **-static-**

 **Minun groaned. "This is EXACTLY what I wanted to avoid. Me and my big mouth."**

 **-static-**

 **"Despite her performance in the dive, it seems like Minun is the weak link in my alliance," Mienshao said. "If she holds us back, I'm going to have to kick her out of the alliance, or maybe even eliminate her altogether."**

 **-static-**

Clefairy pranced around the camp, throwing poisonous flowers everywhere each time she jumped. "Hey everyone, I found some flowers!" she shouted.

"Those are poisonous," Chesnaught said loud enough for her to hear.

Clefairy's laughter slowed down until it died out completely before being replaced by frantic screaming. "I'M WEAK TO POISON! AAAAAHHHHH!" Clefairy shrieked, running for the bathroom. Chesnaught chuckled.

"ATTENTION ALL CAMPERS! REPORT TO THE MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING NOW!" Jirachi shouted over the intercom. Chesnaught covered his ears as the intercom screeched.

 **-static-**

 **Clefairy was sitting next to a sack full of Pecha Berries, eating them one by one. "Mmmm," she said. "These are good."**

 **"Clefairy, there's a challenge." Lopunny's voice came from outside.**

 **"Can't you see I'm busy eating?" Clefairy said with her mouth full.**

 **"Clefairy, get out there."**

 **"Okaaaay."**

 **-static-**

The campers shuffled into the multi-purpose building one by one. They had never been in it before; it was a huge chamber with empty space from wall to wall.

"Wow, you must have really gone all out decorating this place," Baltoy said sarcastically.

Jirachi smirked at the snarky psychic. "Oh, just you wait," the host said cheerfully. "Is everyone here?"

"It would appear so," Druddigon said from below.

"Wonderful!" Jirachi clapped his hands together. "So today's challenge is a bit more laid-back since I actually felt a bit guilty for throwing all of that hard stuff at you guys yesterday. It's a game of dodgeball!"

As Jirachi spoke, Diancie pressed a button and a court appeared in the middle of the floor. Bleachers popped out from one of the walls.

"Not bad," said Dusclops.

"I try," said Jirachi. "So, here's how the game of dodgeball works, for you dummies out there that have never played it. It's literally exactly what the title implies; you try to dodge the ball. If you don't, you're out! Heads up, Torchic!"

"What?" Torchic said, hearing his name. He was promptly smacked in the face by a ball thrown by Jirachi.

Jirachi facepalmed. "You were supposed to catch that…I said heads up. Anyway, that's an example of what NOT to do. If you get hit, you're out. Chesnaught, catch."

Chesnaught caught another ball thrown by Jirachi. The host nodded approvingly at him. "If you catch a ball that's thrown at you, you get the thrower out! So you can play offense AND defense in this game. And, of course, dodging a ball thrown at you means nobody is out, and the game continues. Questions?"

"Are all of us going to be playing at once?" asked Liepard skeptically. "I'm not sure we can all fit on that court."

"No, you're not all playing simultaneously. We wouldn't be able to keep track of all of you," Jirachi admitted. "Only three Pokemon at a time will be playing, and there will be sixteen rounds. Whichever team wins the most rounds wins the challenge. There's no twists for this challenge; it's a straight-up simple game of dodgeball."

"There are rules, though. First of all, each Pokemon on your team must participate in at least one round," Diancie added. "Nobody can just choose to opt out, or they face automatic elimination. Also, you can't have the same Pokemon participate twice in a row; this prevents you from just using your good players for the whole game."

 **-static-**

 **"Finally, a chance to show off my skills again!" Minun exclaimed. "I was able to do the dive well last time, but this is more my style. I'm a gymnast, so I should be able to dodge whatever they throw at me."**

 **-static-**

 **"I'm not big on the physical challenges," Reuniclus said. "Hopefully there's something that requires more brainpower coming up soon."**

 **-static-**

"This seems pretty straightforward," Lopunny said to her teammates. "Each of us needs to go once, but a lot of us will have to go multiple times."

"I'll go this round to get it over with," Kakuna offered. "I won't be of much use to you guys this challenge. Sorry."

Lopunny shrugged sympathetically. "That's not your fault, so I won't hold anything against you if you don't do too well in today's challenge."

"Thanks," said Kakuna.

 **-static-**

 **"At first I thought Lopunny might just be a pretty face, but no, she's got some brains to back up her looks," said Kakuna thoughtfully. "She'd make a powerful ally. I doubt she'd want to ally with someone like me, but you never know. She's definitely got what it takes to be a leader."**

 **-static-**

"So Kakuna's in this round. Who else?" asked Lopunny.

"I'll go," offered Seviper. "I doubt I can much in this challenge, either. Might as well sssend our bad playersss first to get it over with."

"You think we should lose the first round on purpose?" asked Lopunny.

Seviper flickered her tongue. "We ssshouldn't TRY to lose, but we should sssend the onesss who can't play dodgeball as well firssst so our bessst players can win later."

Lopunny thought about it for a moment. "Okay, fine. We need one more, though."

"Eh, what the heck. I'll do it," volunteered Frillish. "Put me in, coach."

Lopunny rolled her eyes. "Let's win this, everyone! We're not losing to the Milotics again!"

 **-static-**

Chatot studied the opposing team carefully. "They're puttin' in Kakuna, Frillish, and Sevipah. Who do we got?"

"Wait, Kakuna and Seviper don't even have arms! And I'm not sure what Frillish has count as arms," Noivern pointed out. "They're putting in all their bad players first. This is an easy win for us!"

"Or we could send our bad players too so we're not screwed over later," Scrafty suggested. "Everyone has to go sometime."

Druddigon looked deep in thought. "Okay, here's the plan," he said in a commanding tone. "We'll do what Scrafty suggested." Scrafty looked up in surprise. "We put in our weakest players right now so that we can win the matches later. It's best to get this out of the way now. Cryogonal, Castform, and Chandelure should all go first, since I doubt they can throw or catch."

"I resent that," said Castform, but her expression made it clear she was joking.

"Are there any problems with that plan?" asked Druddigon. He looked around at his teammates, and no one spoke up. "Good. Get out there, you three."

"And our first victims have been chosen!" announced Jirachi as both teams took their respective sides of the court. Five red dodgeballs lined the middle of the court. "Three…two…one…go!"

The players surged forward and tried to grab the dodgeballs. Kakuna was still hobbling over to the line by the time Chandelure and Seviper got there. Seviper and Chandelure struggled to pick up the dodgeballs, however, and Frillish was the first to get one by wrapping her appendages around it. She flung it at Cryogonal, who was hit.

"Cryogonal, out!" Jirachi called, jerking his thumb at the Milotics. "Nice shot, Frillish!"

Frillish grinned and flung another at Castform, who barely dodged. She was hit a second later by a ball from Kakuna, who had reached the line and headbutted a ball.

 **-static-**

 **"I would've rather gotten hit by Frillish's ball," Castform muttered. "Getting out because of a limbless cocoon is kind of humiliating."**

 **-static-**

Chandelure swung herself around and knocked the ball back at Kakuna, who was hit easily. Frillish retaliated with another throw of her own, knocking Chandelure out of the game.

"The Gastrodons win round one!" Jirachi shouted. "Congratulations, guys! Pick your players for round two."

"I'm guessing I'm not going back out on the court?" Kakuna asked Lopunny as he rejoined his team. She shook her head. "I think I'll head outside, then. Good luck."

Kakuna hobbled outside into camp, looking around and seeing no one. The coast was clear. He began wandering into the woods in search of the key.

 **-static-**

 **"If I can't be of any use to my team in this challenge, I might as well try to get myself the immunity idol," Kakuna said. "I don't know how much longer my team is willing to keep me around for. My capabilities are unfortunately limited as a Kakuna."**

 **He frowned. "Tyranitar mentioned that he trained before…maybe I should join him tomorrow. Evolution could be just what I need."**

 **-static-**

"Nice job out there, everyone," Lopunny praised her team. "Let's put in some good players next to earn some points."

"I'll do it," said Clauncher, grinning. "I used to play dodgeball all the time!"

 **-static-**

 **"Granted, I never won any of those games," Clauncher said. "But my team didn't need to know that!"**

 **-static-**

After both teams had made their decisions, Clauncher, Clefairy, and Swinub took the court on one side, facing Baltoy, Boldore, and Dusclops on the other.

"This should be a piece of cake," Dusclops told Baltoy and Boldore. Jirachi blew the whistle and the campers sprinted forward. Clauncher reached the balls first and threw one hard, slamming into Dusclops's chest.

Dusclops fell to the ground. "Wow. Never mind, I take it back," he muttered, walking off the court.

Clauncher skillfully dodged a shot from Boldore, who was unable to dodge Swinub's being a big and slow target. Only Baltoy was left. "Bugger," groaned Baltoy.

Clauncher grinned meanly and mashed a dodgeball between his two claws.

"Oy! No destroying the dodgeballs! You're out, Claws!" Jirachi yelled angrily.

Clauncher looked up in disbelief. "What? Come on, there were five balls!"

"Oof!"

"Ow!"

Clauncher looked back at his teammates to see Swinub and Clefairy being pelted by dodgeballs. Baltoy smirked from the other side.

"Nice distraction, Claws," taunted Baltoy. Clauncher groaned and walked off the court.

 **-static-**

 **"That's…not going to go over well with my team," Clauncher said. "Hopefully someone does worse than I did."**

 **-static-**

"The scores are tied! Send in your next players!" shouted Jirachi. He reinflated another dodgeball and threw it down onto the court to replace the one Clauncher had destroyed.

"After Clauncher's stunt, we'll need to put in some stronger players to regain the advantage," Chesnaught said. "How about giving me a shot?"

"Go for it," Vaporeon said. "I'll go, too."

Meanwhile, Torchic was cowering in the corner. Swinub walked over to him. "Hey, buddy," Swinub said. "You're gonna have to go sometime, you know."

"B-but I'm not good at d-dodgeball!" Torchic said. "I used to get h-hit all the time when we played in gym class!"

 **-static-**

 **"It was traumatizing," Torchic said, curled up in fetal position. "All of the bullies in my class t-targeted ME."**

 **-static-**

Swinub sighed in defeat. "Okay, you don't have to go yet. But if you don't go, you'll be eliminated, Torchic," Swinub reminded him.

"I want in, too," Minun said. "Dodgeball's my kind of game."

 **-static-**

"They've got their playahs already," Chatot said. "Who wants to go?"

"Why not you?" scowled Zoroark.

Chatot fixed the fox with a glare. "Okay, I will. Who else?"

"I guess I can go," Azurill said. "It's time to show off my stuff!" Noivern grinned approvingly and stepped up as well.

"I'll fill the third slot," Noivern offered. "Let's make this a good game!"

 **-static-**

Jirachi blew the whistle, and with lightning speed, Minun flew to the center of the court, picking up two dodgeballs and flinging them at Azurill and Chatot before either of them had a chance to even react. Azurill and Chatot were smacked against the wall.

Chesnaught and Vaporeon looked at each other, almost afraid to actually interfere with Minun. Noivern threw a ball at Minun, who picked up a ball of her own and deflected Noivern's shot right at her, hitting the bat in the head.

Jirachi was dumbfounded. "Um…Gastrodons win…yeah."

 **-static-**

 **"That didn't go so well," said Azurill, rubbing her head. "Minun's a lot stronger than I gave her credit for at first!"**

 **-static-**

"Nice work out there, Minun," said Lopunny. "I didn't know you were that good at dodgeball."

"Dodgeball's nothing," said Minun, picking up a water bottle and taking a drink. "I was a lot more worried about jumping off a cliff, to be honest."

"If you're not opposed to the idea, it would be useful if you would play a few more rounds," Mienshao proposed. "You're good at this challenge, and we need to make a comeback after last time."

"Jirachi said we can't play twice in a row, though," Minun reminded her. "So I can't play again until the round after this one."

"That's right," said Chesnaught, growling. "Jirachi doesn't want us using our best players the whole time. It would make this too easy."

"So we'll put you in again later," Mienshao said. "We need some others to go now. I'll go, to get this over with."

"I'll do it," said Reuniclus, shrugging.

"I'll do it again," Clauncher offered.

Mienshao smiled. "Good. Let's get to it."

 **-static-**

 **"I can't have Reuniclus walking about knowing about my alliance for too much longer," Mienshao said. "And now that we're playing in the same round, if I trip him up, he'll go home if we lose. Now, how do I make him mess up…"**

 **-static-**

"Clearly the Gastrodons are bettah at this than we thought," Chatot grunted. "Minun single-handedly destroyed our team last match somehow. We need a plan."

"I'll go in this round," Druddigon said. "Who's with me this time?"

"I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE," Escavalier shouted. Druddigon raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be the third player," said Liepard. "Let's do this."

Both teams entered the court again. Druddigon fiercely stared down the other team. Clauncher tapped his feet impatiently. Liepard tensed up, ready to run to the center of the court.

At the sound of the whistle, the campers ran forward. Liepard reached the dodgeballs first, and she threw a ball at Mienshao, but she missed.

Mienshao grabbed a ball and fired at Escavalier. The armored bug hit the floor hard and the ball sailed over her. Escavalier slid to the center and grabbed a ball, throwing it at Mienshao. The weasel dodged again.

Clauncher picked up a ball with two claws and whipped it at Druddigon. The gargoyle dodged to the right, and he moved left quickly after to dodge another throw from Reuniclus.

"This is probably the most intense match yet," Jirachi muttered to Diancie. "I like it."

Escavalier flung a ball at Clauncher, but the Water-type dodged aside. Reuniclus picked up a ball that had fallen near him, and he threw it at Liepard. She caught it in her tail. Reuniclus sighed in defeat.

 **-static-**

 **"I didn't even have to mess him up," said Mienshao, smiling. "If I can convince the rest of my team that he isn't worth keeping around, my alliance should be safe."**

 **-static-**

"Reuniclus! Out!" called Jirachi. Reuniclus left the field as Liepard dodged a shot from Mienshao. Liepard retaliated with a shot of her own, but it missed.

Clauncher finally hit Escavalier after four shots back and forth, but he was quickly struck down by Druddigon. Druddigon and Liepard faced Mienshao menacingly.

"Bring it," Mienshao dared them. Liepard threw a ball, but Mienshao caught it.

"You got this, Druddigon!" Noivern yelled from the sidelines.

"Come on, Mienshao!" Swinub yelled from the other side.

Druddigon leered at Mienshao. "Go ahead. Take a shot."

"I know you'll try to catch it if I do," Mienshao said. "I'm not falling into that trap. Why don't you throw first?"

Druddigon grunted and threw two balls at once. Mienshao dodged one and deflected the other with a ball of her own. She threw two back at Druddigon, who sidestepped the first and caught the second in one hand.

"The winner is Druddigon!" Diancie called. The Milotics cheered loudly from the side.

 **-static-**

 **"I didn't know Druddigon could play dodgeball!" Noivern said. "He wasn't bad out there. He's no Minun, sure, but he wasn't bad!"**

 **-static-**

The next few dodgeball games passed rather uneventfully. Noivern played again and was able to defeat Lopunny, winning another point for the Milotics. Minun single-handedly destroyed the Milotics again, evening the score. Escavalier managed to beat Tyranitar. Minun beat the Milotics again. Scrafty actually did something and got Reuniclus out, allowing Chatot to win the game. Minun went in again and defeated the Milotics once more by herself.

"I don't know that I can play again," Minun panted, returning to the Gastrodons' side of the court. "I've played four games already by myself, pretty much."

"Take a rest," said Lopunny. "Let's see…everybody's played by now except Torchic. Torchic, you have to play."

The chicken trembled in place for a moment before swallowing. "Okay. I can…d-do this," he said, visibly shaking. He stepped out onto the court before panicking and heading back to his team. "I can't do this."

Lopunny put her hands on her hips. "Torchic, you'll be eliminated automatically if you don't. Besides, it looks the other team is sending weaker players like Zoroark and Azurill this round. You don't even have to play if you don't want to. You just have to get out there."

Torchic gulped. "O-okay. I can just s-stay in the back and I w-won't get in anyone's way."

Mawile, Azurill, and Zoroark stepped out onto the court. "Who's playing us?" asked Mawile.

Chesnaught and Lopunny stepped out, followed by Torchic. Zoroark burst out laughing.

"Torchic? Really?" he laughed meanly. "I thought you were done sending your weak players out!"

"You're one to talk," Chesnaught retorted. Zoroark scowled.

Jirachi blew the whistle. Zoroark darted forward and immediately threw a ball at Chesnaught. Chesnaught, prepared for Zoroark, dodged to the side. Lopunny picked up the ball and flung it at Azurill, who hopped over it.

Torchic slowly moved to the back of the court. The further he stayed from the dodgeballs, the better. A ball flew past Lopunny and smacked the wall next to Torchic. The bird yelped in fear as Zoroark drew a line across his neck with a finger.

Chesnaught was about to throw at Zoroark, but he was pummeled in the chest by a ball from Azurill as well as Mawile. The two girls looked at each other and grinned. One down.

Lopunny threw a ball, but it missed Azurill again. The blue mouse hopped up on her tail and bounced into the air, throwing a ball downward at Lopunny, who didn't see it coming and was hit in the head.

"We won!" exclaimed Mawile.

"Uh, not quite," Jirachi said from the announcer's booth in which he and Diancie were sitting. "The teams are made of THREE Pokemon. You missed one."

Zoroark scowled and picked up a dodgeball, walking towards the center line of the court. Torchic trembled in fear as Zoroark positioned his aim perfectly.

"Torchic, get out of the way! He's aiming for you!" Swinub warned Torchic fearfully. Lilligant frowned as Torchic remained where he was, paralyzed by fear. Zoroark grinned.

BAM!

The ball flew into Torchic, sending the poor bird sprawling across the floor and against the wall. Zoroark laughed triumphantly. The Gastrodons watched Zoroark walk back to the Milotics' side, smiling to himself, almost as if he _enjoyed_ hurting Torchic.

"Are you okay?" asked Lilligant, helping Torchic up. He looked around, dazed. Lilligant placed both of her hands on his hand and transferred her healing energy. Torchic immediately felt better.

"I'm s-s-sorry, guys," Torchic stuttered miserably. "I should h-have gotten out of the way."

"It's okay," Swinub reassured him, but some of Torchic's teammates, like Chesnaught and Seviper, were looking at Torchic disapprovingly.

 **-static-**

 **"I get it. The guy scares easily," Chesnaught said, arms crossed. "But that's no excuse for essentially throwing the challenge for us. He could have at least TRIED to catch the ball."**

 **-static-**

 **"It'sss not that I don't like Torchic, but he'sss a weak link on the team," Seviper said. "I think I know who I'll vote for tonight if we lossse."**

 **-static-**

Kakuna checked his surroundings carefully. There was a small river flowing through the woods that led out to the ocean—he'd followed the river the whole way, so he knew by now the key wasn't hidden anywhere around there.

"This isn't as easy as I thought," Kakuna muttered to himself. "I haven't even finished checking the woods yet, and there's much more to the island than this area. It's possible that the key is hidden somewhere where I can't reach it…"

He glanced up into the trees, but saw nothing there either. "Then again, it would be unfair of the hosts to hide it somewhere where not everybody could get to it."

Kakuna checked the time. "It's getting late—the challenge is probably almost finished. I should get back to camp."

 **-static-**

 **"While I didn't necessarily profit off of my search today, I did get valuable information," Kakuna said. "I know where the key isn't. And while that isn't as helpful as knowing where the key is, it's a start—and it's more than most of the other campers know."**

 **-static-**

By the time Kakuna had reached camp, there were only two rounds of dodgeball left. Kakuna sat down next to Tyranitar.

"So what did I miss?" asked Kakuna quietly.

"The scores are tied right now—seven to seven," Tyranitar told him. "And since there are sixteen rounds, we've got two left. Are you thinking about playing again?"

Kakuna chuckled halfheartedly. "Me? I'd weigh the team down. Dodgeball isn't exactly my forte."

"About time you got back," said Mienshao sharply, looking at Kakuna disapprovingly. "We need to win these last two games to beat the Milotics, and you're out there doing who knows what."

"You wouldn't have put me in the game again anyway," Kakuna said, frowning. "There's no need to get angry. I was out for a walk."

Mienshao looked like she was about to say something, but she thought better of it. "Okay. Well, at least you're back now. I'll play in this game."

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!" Clefairy shouted.

Lopunny frowned. "Okay, Clefairy, you can play again."

"YES! I promise I won't let you down!" she squealed.

"I guess I'll fill the last slot," Reuniclus said.

"Good. We're all set, then," said Lopunny. "Let's show them they're messing with the wrong team!"

 **-static-**

"Only two rounds left ta turn the game around," Chatot said, frowning. "I thought that this challenge woulda been more…one-sided, I guess. But we'll need ta give these last two rounds everythin' we got ta win. So who's in?"

"I'll do it again!" Azurill spoke up. "I kinda like dodgeball, actually."

Chatot smiled. "Sure. And who else could we put in…?"

"I'll do it!" Noivern said. "Me and Azurill could make a pretty good team, I think!"

 **-static-**

 **"I wanted to play again, since Azurill and Noivern were doing it," Castform said. "But I don't have arms. Why don't I have freaking arms?!"**

 **-static-**

"I can play, too," Jolteon offered. Chatot gave him a nod, and the three volunteers went out to face Mienshao, Reuniclus, and Clefairy.

Jirachi blew the whistle, and Jolteon reached the dodgeballs first. He grabbed one for himself and threw one back to Noivern, who caught it and lobbed it at Mienshao. The weasel nimbly ducked, and it sailed past Reuniclus, missing him by a hair.

"Watch it!" Reuniclus yelped. "Wait, Noivern's on the other team. She's trying to hit me. Crap."

Clefairy giggled as she picked up a ball and threw it at Azurill. Azurill watched as the ball weakly flew a few feet before skidding across the ground. Azurill picked it up.

"Sorry," she apologized, whipping it at Clefairy. The poor Fairy-type was nailed in the face and sent flying against the wall. Azurill stifled a laugh.

Mienshao flung a dodgeball at Jolteon, which he narrowly dodged. She picked up another and threw it at him, too—this time, Jolteon was hit in the side. He rubbed his side sorely as he walked off the court.

Noivern threw a ball at Mienshao, which she managed to dodge again. Azurill targeted Mienshao this time as well, but the weasel ducked behind Reuniclus, who took a ball to the face. "Argh!" Reuniclus grunted.

"You're out, Jell-O!" Jirachi shouted at Reuniclus. The Multiplying Pokemon shot him a glare before leaving the court.

Noivern high-fived Azurill. "One left," Noivern said excitedly.

Mienshao threw two balls, one at each of her foes. Both Azurill and Noivern dodged and returned the shots. Mienshao dodged the first, but was hit by Azurill's. The Milotics cheered.

"The Milotics win the semifinal round!" Diancie announced. "There's only one round left, so—"

"So to make things interesting, if the Gastrodons make a comeback, we'll have a tiebreaker round!" Jirachi interrupted. "No pressure, Gastrodons!"

"At least we have a shot," Lopunny said. "But we CAN'T mess this one up, or we're going to eliminate someone again tonight. Who wants to play in the finals? I'll go if nobody else does."

"You're a good player. You should go," Vaporeon told Lopunny.

Lopunny blushed a bit. "Uh…thanks. Okay, I'll go. But we need two more."

"I'm in," Chesnaught said. He looked over to Minun, who was sweating a bit from her games before. "How about you, Minun?"

"I said I was done, didn't I?" Minun asked.

"Look, we need you. You single-handedly took out four teams before," Lopunny said. "I know you might not want to play again—you've already done your part. But if you don't play, we might lose."

Minun gave it some thought. "Okay, I'm in," she said. "But if we lose, you guys better not blame me for it. I'm tired as it is."

Lopunny nodded. "That's reasonable enough. Now get out there and win!"

 **-static-**

"We're winnin'!" Chatot exclaimed excitedly. Boldore tapped a few times on the floor, which Cryogonal was able to interpret as 'yay.'

 **-static-**

 **"The rest of the team doesn't know Boldore speaks Morse yet," Cryogonal said. "I think we should tell them, but Boldore hasn't given me permission to tell anyone yet. It's her secret; if she doesn't want anyone knowing, I won't tell."**

 **-static-**

"I'd like to be in the final match," Mawile said. "Any objections?"

Nobody said anything, so Mawile smiled. "Thanks."

Druddigon stepped forward. "I'll go in as well. Who's our final player?"

"I'll do it," Chatot said. "I haven't done much in this challenge yet—now's mah time to shine."

"Both teams take the court!" Jirachi shouted. The players lined up opposite each other. "Gastrodons, this is your shot at redemption! Milotics, this is your chance to secure a victory!"

Jirachi blew the whistle, and the teams charged forward. Minun was faster than any other player on the field, but as she approached the dodgeballs, she slipped and fell. Chatot reached the dodgeballs first, and he threw a ball at Minun, seizing the opportunity.

Minun rolled to the side, and Chatot's throw missed. However, Druddigon had reached the center line by this time as well, and he targeted Minun as well. Minun wasn't lucky enough to dodge his shot.

"Minun…out?" said Jirachi, looking confused. "Dude, didn't you take out four teams by yourself?"

Minun looked humiliated at her defeat, but she walked away wordlessly. Druddigon got nailed in the head by a ball from Lopunny, who looked fiercer than ever with her strongest player out.

Chesnaught dodged to the side as Mawile reached the middle and threw a ball at him. Chatot, however, had already gotten another ball, and he hit Chesnaught with that one.

Lopunny stared down Mawile and Chatot. "Here goes nothing," Lopunny muttered. She dashed forward and threw a ball at Chatot, who tried to flap out of the way, but was struck on the leg. Mawile jumped up and caught the ball Lopunny threw, tossing it back at the bunny. Lopunny was hit.

Jirachi looked disappointed. "No comeback from the Gastrodons? Aw. Okay, well, that's game over. Gastrodons, meet me again tonight at the campfire. Milotics, congrats on the second win!"

The Marvelous Milotics cheered and applauded Mawile as they walked out of the building, joking and laughing with each other. The Gastrodons looked downcast at their second defeat.

 **-static-**

After the Gastrodons had left, Seviper was on her way back to the Gastrodons' cabin to think about who she would vote off this time. She felt a tap on her tail and looked back to see Mienshao.

"I never got an answer from you yesterday. Are you in on the alliance or not?" Mienshao asked. Seviper sensed something in her voice…almost like a threat.

"I don't sssee the point in joining any alliancesss yet. Sssorry," Seviper replied.

Mienshao closed her eyes and took a breath. "Your loss," she said, walking away. Seviper watched as the weasel disappeared into the woods, followed by Lilligant and Minun.

 **-static-**

 **"I didn't trussst her before, but now? She'sss up to sssomething," Seviper hissed. "I'll find out what, one way or another."**

 **-static-**

 **"It is a shame that Seviper didn't join, really. She's a strong and smart player," Mienshao said. "I guess I'll have to keep an eye on her so she doesn't give us away. Maybe Reuniclus is safe for tonight…I think I have a better target."**

 **-static-**

"What were you saying to Seviper before?" Lilligant asked Mienshao as the alliance walked into the woods. "And why are we meeting in the _woods_ now?"

"It's more secretive here," Mienshao explained. "And don't worry about Seviper. I just had to ask her something."

"Okay," said Lilligant, shrugging. Minun eyed Mienshao curiously but said nothing.

 **-static-**

"Hey. Chatot."

Chatot perked up at Jolteon's voice. "What is it?" squawked the bird, holding his hat with one wing so it didn't blow away in the wind.

"I, uh, think I'm in," Jolteon said. "For the alliance, you know."

"Oh." Chatot actually looked surprised. "Well, you're in. Not like I'm picky right now; Dusclops and Cryogonal declined my offer, as it turns out."

"Cool," said Jolteon, smiling for seemingly the first time on the island. "So I guess we'll be voting together, then."

Chatot returned the smile. "You bet, kid."

 **-static-**

Torchic was moping about around the cabin. Swinub and Clauncher watched him with worried expressions.

"Are you okay, dude?" asked Clauncher.

"I'm…going home tonight," Torchic said quietly. "I did h-horrible in the challenge…n-nobody would keep me around after th-that…"

"Dude, don't say that!" Clauncher said. "I can't think of anybody on this team that doesn't like you! You haven't done anything wrong."

"And moping around isn't going to make you feel any better," Swinub added. "Why don't we go to the cafeteria for a snack? That'll cheer you up."

Torchic looked up at Swinub and smiled hesitantly. "Uh…okay. S-sure."

 **-static-**

The sky grew darker as night fell. Soon, the Great Gastrodons were all gathered at the campfire pit. Jirachi leaned on a wooden podium before them, bearing a tray of fourteen Pokeblocks.

"You should know the drill. After all, you lost last time," Jirachi said, smirking. "I thought you'd make a comeback, too! But you guys totally SUCKED today."

Most of the Gastrodons glared at Jirachi. The host chuckled to himself. "So when I call your name, you may come up and take a Pokeblock—it means you're safe. The votes were a bit more surprising tonight than last night—unlike last time, the majority of you didn't all vote for one camper. Anyway, first up is Minun."

Minun sighed in relief. Her performance had been good enough the first four rounds that nobody had been mad about her slipping in her fifth round.

Jirachi glanced down at the box of votes. "Lopunny, Tyranitar, Lilligant, Vaporeon—you're also safe tonight." Tyranitar looked relieved while the girls seemed much more calm. They all went to claim their Pokeblocks.

"Kakuna." The cocoon hopped over, and Jirachi awkwardly placed a Pokeblock on the bug's head.

"Reuniclus. And Mienshao," Jirachi said. Reuniclus flashed a thumbs-up to Tyranitar, and Mienshao took her Pokeblock without a word.

"Chesnaught, Frillish, Swinub," Jirachi called. Chesnaught grunted and picked up his Pokeblock. Frillish smiled at Jirachi charmingly before taking hers. Swinub popped his mouth open and Jirachi flicked his Pokeblock in.

"Clauncher, you're safe tonight," Jirachi said. Clauncher snatched up his Pokeblock. "But don't go popping any more dodgeballs."

"No promises," said Clauncher jokingly.

Only three Gastrodons remained without Pokeblocks. Seviper's tail flicked back and forth anxiously. Torchic looked fearful again, but Swinub flashed him a reassuring smile. Clefairy was counting her fingers to make sure they were all still there.

"So, you're the bottom three," Jirachi said, stretching out the suspense for a dramatic effect. "Torchic, you totally screwed your team over after you didn't even try to get out of the way of Zoroark's shot. Clefairy, you sucked over all today. And Seviper…I guess maybe your team just doesn't like you?"

Seviper cast nasty glares into the crowd. "Apparently being unpopular isn't enough to get you voted off, though. You're safe, Seviper," Jirachi said. Seviper visibly relaxed. Mienshao's eyes narrowed.

Torchic froze up in fear. Last time he had been in a low place too, but final two? He could actually get voted out!

Clefairy was busy thinking about rainbows and not paying attention to the ceremony.

"Any last words, you two?" Jirachi asked, grinning.

"Please don't vote me out!" pleaded Torchic.

"Those are boring last words. What about you, Clefairy?" Jirachi asked.

Clefairy shrugged. "Uh…'here lies Clefairy, she lived a pretty decent life.'"

"Um…wrong kind of last words. But okay," Jirachi said, rolling with it. "The last Pokeblock goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"…Torchic," said Jirachi. Torchic sprang up in relief and ran to get his Pokeblock. Clefairy looked at the ground dejectedly.

"I honestly don't know if you were dropped on your head as a baby or if you're just weird because you can be, but I guess your team was weirded out by you. So long, Clefairy!" said Jirachi cheerfully.

"Aw," Clefairy sighed. "I didn't even get to sing on this show…I wanted to sing a seventeen minute long song for my true love."

"True…love?" Jirachi asked, looking puzzled.

Clefairy laughed and grinned crazily. "Yep! But my true love lives on a different continent, so bye, everyone!"

Clefairy leaped past the Lapras waiting at the dock and into the water, swimming away into the distance. Jirachi watched her with a look of utter confusion before turning to the remaining Gastrodons.

"That's, um, all for tonight. I guess there's no last confessional this time," Jirachi muttered sadly. "Darn."

The Gastrodons all began walking back to their cabins, chatting quietly among themselves. Mienshao watched Seviper subtly from the back of the group.

 **-static-**

Baltoy was on his was to his cabin for the night when he heard grunting and swearing from near the center of camp. He approached slowly and saw Zoroark struggling to pick the lock.

"Still at it, huh?" Baltoy sneered. Zoroark turned and saw the smug psychic watching him again.

"If you have nothing else to say, just leave," snarled Zoroark. "I don't want to listen to you again."

Baltoy rolled his eyes. "Somebody's angry. I'll leave—but if I were you, I'd quit trying to unlock that thing without the key."

"I didn't ask you," Zoroark grunted, but when he turned around, Baltoy wasn't there. Zoroark turned his attention back to the chest.

* * *

OOH BOY. THE ALLIANCES. THE DRAMA.

The challenge was pretty laid-back this time so I could develop alliances and character tension without too much trouble. I think I accomplished that pretty well.

Baltoy seems to know something important, doesn't he? Or maybe he's just lying to try to trick Zoroark—who knows?

Mienshao seems to be getting paranoid about having her alliance revealed, too—she even tries targeting Reuniclus to try to eliminate him. That can't end well.

And Clefairy was the loser at the end of the day. She was crazy, she was fun—but she was a nuisance to her team, so her story draws to a close. For now, anyway.

See you next time!

Clefairy: Review, or you'll get hit by a bus!


	4. Wandering in the Wild

Who's excited for another episode? I am!

According to the poll, Baltoy and Cryogonal have received some love! We've got a four-way tie in the poll now.

I also got a bunch more reviews since last chapter, so here's a quick thanks to my reviewers. Keep in mind that I can't respond to guest reviews, so…for the guest that reviewed, don't be offended that I haven't responded. Sorry. ;-;

In other news, it is spring break now, meaning I have a week off from school, which should hopefully lead to increased production of chapters! I do have homework over break, though (not much of a break, is it?) so I can't focus entirely on the story. At any rate, I'll certainly try.

(Although I also recently discovered Gravity Falls, so I've been binge watching that and it's sucking up a lot of my time, too. Yikes.)

Here's your chapter! Thanks for being patient.

* * *

Inside the Milotics' cabin, Cryogonal played a game of chess against Boldore. Cryogonal hadn't known Boldore knew how to play chess until the day before.

Boldore moved a bishop, taking out one of Cryogonal's pawns and putting his king in check. "You're good at this," muttered Cryogonal. The snowflake countered by moving his king over one space.

Boldore shook a bit as if she was laughing before she moved a knight and took Cryogonal's queen. The Ice-type's eyes widened. "You didn't."

Boldore's eyes glittered mischievously and Cryogonal laughed lightheartedly. Despite not being able to talk, Boldore was one of the Pokemon that interested Cryogonal most on the island.

After a few more moves, Boldore had Cryogonal in checkmate. "Huh. Not bad," Cryogonal complimented her. "But I demand a rematch tomorrow."

Boldore tapped the ground a few times, which Cryogonal interpreted as 'okay.'

 **-static-**

"So, uh, we seem to be working together a lot," Azurill said to Noivern and Castform. The girls were sitting on their beds in the Milotics' cabin. "I just want to know if we're officially…like, a team. Or an alliance or something."

"Sure," Noivern said. "I like you guys."

Azurill bounced up and down happily. "Awesome! So what do you guys want to do?"

"We could always head down to the cafeteria," suggested Castform. "Or maybe we could check around the island for that key. Nobody's found it as far as I know."

"Yeah! That would be cool," Noivern said. "But wait, if one of us found it, who would get to keep the idol?"

An awkward silence passed between the newly formed alliance. "Let's just…look for the key by ourselves," Azurill suggested awkwardly. Noivern scratched her head and Castform nodded.

 **-static-**

Scrafty was sitting outside the Milotics' cabin, smoking by himself since Druddigon had kicked him out again for trying to smoke inside. Chandelure, who was floating by herself outside, eyed him curiously.

The chandelier watched as Scrafty got up and began walking toward the woods. She glanced around the camp quickly. Nobody else was there. Closing her book, Chandelure decided to follow the lizard.

Could Scrafty be trying to get his hands on the idol? Is that why he was in the woods? Many thoughts raced through Chandelure's mind until she saw Scrafty stop by a tree. She hid behind a tree cautiously.

"You can stop hiding. I know you're there," chuckled Scrafty. Chandelure swore under her breath and revealed herself.

"How'd you see me?" Chandelure asked.

"You're a walking light source. It's hard not to," Scrafty said. "And I should be asking the questions here. Why are you tailing me?"

"I wanted to see what you were up to. If you were looking for the idol, that sort of thing," said Chandelure uncomfortably. "I'll be leaving, then."

Scrafty snickered softly. "What's the matter? I just asked a question, that's all."

Chandelure glared at him. "Nothing's the matter; I just have better things to do than talk to you if you're not going to tell me anything I want to know." She gave him another cold look before floating out of the woods.

"Touchy," muttered Scrafty.

 **-static-**

 **"To tell the truth, I WAS looking for the idol, actually," Scrafty admitted. "But there's no need to raise suspicion among my team members, especially not the ones that already don't trust me. Like Chandelure!" he chuckled.**

 **His face grew a bit more serious. "I don't know what her problem is, though. She's all lonely and stuff, but when people try talking to her, she just sort of pushes them away. I dunno."**

 **-static-**

Reuniclus had gathered his alliance in the male Gastrodons' cabin. Tyranitar was sitting on his bed perusing a magazine out of boredom while Clauncher watched Reuniclus playing his 3DS.

"So, uh, what are we meeting for again?" Clauncher asked hesitantly.

Reuniclus shrugged. "Nothing in particular. I just thought it would be cool to hang out."

"Quick question for you guys," said Tyranitar, peering over his magazine. "What would be your answer if I were to propose…I don't know, adding a member to our alliance?"

"Depends on who you're proposing to have join," Reuniclus said. "To be honest, I don't trust some Pokemon like Chesnaught, while others like Torchic wouldn't serve much purpose anyway."

"Torchic's not so bad," Clauncher said, defending his friend. When he wasn't around Tyranitar and Reuniclus, Clauncher was often hanging out with Swinub and Torchic.

Reuniclus shrugged nonchalantly. "He's not a bad Pokemon in general, but he's dead weight in challenges. So who are you thinking of, Tyranitar?"

"I want to ask him first to make sure he's on board with the idea," said Tyranitar. "But if he says no, I want you to promise not to vote him off for it. He's a good guy."

"I wasn't planning on targeting anybody, so we're all good there," said Reuniclus. "Go ahead and ask whoever it is. I trust that you wouldn't ask them if they weren't useful."

Tyranitar nodded gratefully. "Thanks." He left the cabin, leaving only Reuniclus and Clauncher inside.

 **-static-**

Castform and Azurill had gone out on their own to look for the key, but Noivern decided to stay back at camp. She wasn't that interested in the idol, truthfully. Her team didn't dislike her, so she had no reason to worry about being voted off.

Liepard walked into the cabin and looked surprised to find Noivern. "I thought you'd be out in the woods with Azurill," Liepard said. "You're with her a lot."

"I figured I'd listen to some music by myself for now," Noivern told Liepard. "You can join me if you want, but I'm not sure what kind of music you like."

"Anything's fine as long as it's not country," Liepard said, laughing softly. Noivern smiled slightly and was about to put on some music when Escavalier burst through the door.

"CODE RED, EVERYONE! CODE RED!" barked Escavalier. "WE HAVE AN ARMY OF CLOUDS INVADING FROM THE NORTH! MAN YOUR STATIONS!"

"Would it kill you to shut up for one afternoon?" asked Chandelure bitterly. "I'm trying to read in here since I couldn't get any peace outside. Zoroark won't stop ranting about how he can't open that stupid chest."

Escavalier frantically dashed over to Chandelure. "Shhhh," whispered Escavalier, getting awkwardly close to Chandelure, who shrank back uncomfortably. "It's okay, Spooks. I'll take care of the clouds."

With a battle cry, Escavalier charged out of the cabin and raced around the camp, stabbing at the air randomly.

 **-static-**

 **"And we're going to have to live with her for several weeks," Liepard sighed. "Great. I can tell this will be fun. Real fun."**

 **-static-**

Many of the campers were in the cafeteria, talking in groups to each other. Mienshao was talking with Minun and Lilligant quietly and occasionally casting glances at Seviper, who was talking to Kakuna in the corner. Swinub was piling food into his mouth messily, spraying food at those around him unintentionally. Torchic muttered unhappily to himself as Swinub splashed a bit of mashed potato on his face.

Frillish took a seat next to Seviper. "You don't mind if I sit here, right?" asked Frillish. Seviper shook her head. "So what are you two doing?"

"Jussst discusssing who we think will be eliminated next," Seviper said. "Kakuna thinksss it might be Ssswinub or Torchic."

"It's not my place to say who will stay or go," Kakuna said, somewhat defensively. "But Swinub and Torchic haven't done much for our team yet. Eliminating one would weaken the other significantly, since they seem to rely on each other, so we'd probably end up eliminating both."

Frillish watched as Torchic mumbled something to Swinub, and the pig began eating more considerately. "Maybe those two just need a confidence boost to do better," Frillish suggested. "Or evolution. I've heard evolution can do wonders for somebody's self-confidence."

"I wouldn't know," said Seviper bitterly. "You two are lucky. You can ssstill evolve, Frillish—and you can evolve AGAIN, Kakuna."

"It's not as great as it sounds," Kakuna said. "But maybe that's just from a cocoon's perspective. I'd imagine being a Beedrill would be much more liberating."

"I really can't wait to evolve," gushed Frillish. "My boyfriend said it's great, and he's done it _twice."_

"You have a boyfriend?" asked Seviper in surprise.

Frillish looked a bit offended, but managed to put that aside quickly. "Yeah, he's from Kanto. He's a Dragonite."

Kakuna and Seviper exchanged a look of surprise at the fact that someone as small as Frillish could be dating a Dragonite.

 **-static-**

 **"And speaking of my boyfriend, I miss you Dragonite!" Frillish said, waving to the camera. "But don't worry about me! I'm having fun here, and when I come home, we'll have enough money that we can do whatever we want together!"**

 **-static-**

 **"S-so, uh, Swinub and I talked earlier," said Torchic, rubbing his wing nervously. "And admittedly, I h-haven't been doing so well in challenges…so Swinub's g-gonna help me train, so I can evolve!"**

 **Torchic smiled a bit. "Maybe that's all I need t-to win."**

 **-static-**

"Come ooon, Torchic! You're being really slow," complained Swinub, trying to drag his friend out of the Gastrodons' cabin. Torchic was shaking in fear.

"Swinub, I've never f-fought before! What if I get hurt?" yelped Torchic.

Swinub snorted. "Dude, you have to fight to grow stronger! That's how you evolve. If you don't, you'll be stuck a Torchic forever. And wouldn't you rather look cool like this?" Swinub held up a picture of a Combusken.

"Yeah," muttered Torchic, looking down. "I guess so."

"Then let's do it!" Swinub said cheerfully. "C'mon, don't be scared! I'm not gonna hurt you that much, it's just practice training!"

 **-static-**

 **"Things are…I don't know, different wh-when Swinub's around," Torchic said, fiddling with his feathers. "I don't st-stutter as much, and I feel a bit…braver. I g-guess I like having friends around to encourage me, but I really should evolve so I'm not s-so dependent."**

 **Torchic looked around sheepishly before pulling out a stash of candies wrapped in blue. "Just don't tell Swinub I took a few of his candies," Torchic said. "These should h-help speed up the process."**

 **-static-**

"AHEM! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION?" Diancie shouted through the camp's intercom. "YOU'VE HAD SOME TIME OFF SINCE THE DODGEBALL GAME, SO IT'S TIME FOR YOUR THIRD CHALLENGE! MEET IN THE CENTER OF CAMP FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTION."

"Wonder what this one's going to be about," Dusclops said to Jolteon, who shrugged. The first two challenges had been drastically different, so making predictions this early would be difficult.

"There's nothin' to fear, lad," Escavalier growled in a pirate accent. Dusclops looked at her in surprise. "We pirates can brave anything across the seven and a half seas! Right, matey?" she asked, shaking a hook hand at Jolteon, who nodded in confusion.

Escavalier slipped past the two of them. "Where'd she get the hook hand?" Jolteon asked.

"Beats me. But I kinda want one," Dusclops said.

 **-static-**

Diancie surveyed the campers and made sure they were all present. "Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty…" she counted. "Okay. You're all here."

"So what sort of challenge did you cook up today?" asked Scrafty. For once, he wasn't smoking, which earned him some looks from the other campers; most of them looked relieved.

"It's a simple challenge in theory, but not so much in practice," Diancie said. "Today, I'll be testing your survival skills. Since we're on an island with many different biomes in close proximity, you'll have to be able to withstand the conditions of each."

"Like a camping challenge? In the wilderness?" asked Lopunny.

"Pretty much," Diancie confirmed. "You'll be sent to the other side of the island via teleportation, once Jirachi has his coffee and stops being a sleepyhead. The only things you will have are a map, compass, and tent; one of each per team."

Chatot grabbed Druddigon and Jolteon and pulled them aside. "One of us has gotta grab one of those things," Chatot muttered. "That's the plan. If we get the map, we can navigate back ta the othah side of the island and be safe from elimination, so that's our goal. Clear?"

Druddigon nodded. "Clear. I see your logic, and I like it. Let's win this challenge, too—we haven't lost yet, and I don't plan on making this an exception."

"The premise of the challenge is simple—the first team back to camp wins," Diancie said. "When I say team, that means EVERY one of you has to be back here for it to count. That technically disadvantages the Milotics a bit, but with their winning streak, I'd say it's about even. Now, where's Jirachi…?"

"Here," grumbled Jirachi, floating out from the hosts' cabin, his eyes still not fully open. "Couldn't we start this challenge later? I'm so tired…"

"No," said Diancie, folding her arms. "You said you'd let me do a challenge for once, and I say we do it now."

"This is the last time I'm letting you do a challenge," Jirachi muttered crossly. "Okay, campers, you heard her. Let the challenge begin."

Awkward silence passed for a few seconds. "Um, don't you have to teleport us?" Lilligant asked Jirachi.

Jirachi groaned. "You people are so needy," he complained, snapping his fingers. The campers disappeared instantly, teleporting across the island.

 **-static-**

 **"Okay, I'm not one to exaggerate, but that was definitely the coolest thing I've ever done!" Castform shouted. "Man, I wish I was a Psychic-type! Teleporting is so cool! All I can do is control the weather."**

 **Castform created a miniature raincloud next to her. Tiny raindrops pattered on the seat. "Heh heh. Never mind, this is neat," Castform giggled.**

 **-static-**

Vaporeon landed with a thud on top of Chesnaught. His spikes dug into her belly, causing her to jump off of him with a gasp of pain. "Ow, watch your back!" Vaporeon shouted.

"Sorry you teleported on top of me," Chesnaught said sarcastically. "It's _completely_ my fault."

"You could have just apologized," said Vaporeon, frowning. "Whatever. Wait, where's the rest of our team?"

Chesnaught and Vaporeon looked around and realized that they were alone on the beach.

Chesnaught grunted. "Well, shit."

 **-static-**

"Oh, shoot. I totally forgot to mention that the teams got split up in pairs randomly," said Diancie.

"This is why you're not the host," Jirachi said, chuckling. Diancie shot him a glare. "What? It's true! Oh, that and my face is prettier than yours."

"Stuff it," growled Diancie. "They'll just have to figure out the challenge for themselves."

 **-static-**

"Clearly neither of us has the tent, and I don't have the map or compass," Chesnaught said. "You?"

"Nope," said Vaporeon. "So our team got split up, meaning those items did, too. We'll have to find somebody who knows where they're going or we'll just get lost trying to get back."

"What, you don't think I can find my own way back? I used to be a scout," Chesnaught said. "I know the basics of this camping and wilderness shit. Just follow me."

"Are you sure—"

"Yes, I'm sure. Shut up and follow me or stay here and wait for help to arrive," Chesnaught growled. "And if you're smart, you'll know help isn't arriving."

With that, Chesnaught began stomping off into the distance, entering the dark forest. He hacked a few prickly thorn bushes out of his way and didn't look back.

"He'll get himself killed," Vaporeon muttered. "I better follow him."

 **-static-**

 **"Pokemon who can't look out for themselves are a liability," Chesnaught said. "I know Torchic's a problem, but I didn't expect Vaporeon to be afraid of a little nature walk."**

 **-static-**

"It seems we've been split off from the rest of our team," Cryogonal commented to Scrafty, who he had been stuck with. Scrafty was sitting on a log, carving his name into it with a pocketknife. "Any idea how to get back to camp? I don't have the map OR the compass."

"It's your lucky day. I DO have the compass," Scrafty said, grinning as he held up the compass. "And I know that our camp is to the north."

"How do you know that?" Cryogonal asked skeptically.

"Sun rises in the east, and east would be that way, meaning north has to be that way," said Scrafty, gesturing in the directions as he said them. "It's not rocket science, man."

 **-static-**

 **"I figured I'd better step up my game a bit and take charge for at least one challenge," Scrafty said, doodling on the wall of the confessional with his pocketknife. "That way, if I lose, I've got Cryogonal to vouch for me, so I doubt I'd be on the chopping block."**

 **"I just can't act TOO smart or too strong, or else my team will deem me a threat and vote me off," Scrafty said. "So I've gotta bide my time until the merge, and then I'll fade into the background again until the final challenges."**

 **-static-**

Cryogonal frowned but decided to give the lizard a chance. After all, if Scrafty screwed up, Cryogonal could blame him for getting them lost—Scrafty had the compass, after all.

"Follow me," Scrafty said, motioning for Cryogonal to follow. He held the compass in front of him and followed the arrow pointing north.

Soon, Scrafty and Cryogonal stopped, as they were blocked by a large ravine. On the other side were a few mountains, but the mountains were still closer to camp than they were.

"Great, we have to get across a ravine," Scrafty muttered. "Since when was there a ravine here?"

"You've been here before?" asked Cryogonal in surprise.

"Uh…no," Scrafty said. Cryogonal didn't seem convinced. "Okay, I snuck out of camp once and came here for a smoke since Druddigon kicked me out. Happy?"

"We're all the way across the island," Cryogonal pointed out.

Scrafty swallowed nervously. Cryogonal could easily see through his lies. "Well, it doesn't really matter _why_ I was here before if I can get us back, right? So let's look for a way around the ravine and—"

"Hey guys!"

Scrafty and Cryogonal turned at the sound of a girl's voice. Mawile was emerging from the woods, an unenthusiastic Zoroark following her.

"The map says camp is this way," Mawile said, holding up a map. "You guys lost?"

"We have the compass, actually," said Cryogonal. "I wasn't expecting we'd find the map so quickly. Have you two seen anyone else?"

"No," Mawile said. "I was caught a little off guard when it was just me and Zoroark in the woods, but at least there's four of us to work together now. We know which direction camp is in, so we just…"

Mawile trailed off as she saw the massive ravine Scrafty and Cryogonal were standing in front of. "…We just, uh, cross this big ravine. Any ideas?"

"Can't you transform into different Pokemon?" Cryogonal asked Zoroark. "You could turn into a Steelix or something and create a bridge across the gap."

"My ability allows me to create illusions of Pokemon, not turn into them!" spat Zoroark. "I'm not a Ditto, idiot."

"You might not be a Ditto, but you're debatably an idiot," Scrafty snickered.

Zoroark shot him a death glare. "YOU STAY OUT OF THIS," snarled Zoroark furiously. "Point is, I can't get us across the gap, so we need a better idea."

Mawile watched Scrafty and Zoroark in amusement and then turned to Cryogonal. "I don't think those two will be much help," she whispered. "But we need our whole team to reach camp to win. Do you have any plans to cross the ravine?"

"Let's just make our way around. It might be quicker than devising a plan to get across," Cryogonal suggested.

"I was thinking along the same lines," Mawile agreed. "Hey, Scrafty, Zoroark. We're moving around the ravine. Let's go."

Scrafty and Zoroark exchanged hostile glances and followed after the Deceiver Pokemon.

 **-static-**

Lilligant and Torchic faced each other awkwardly for a moment. "So, um, where's everyone else?" Torchic asked after a while.

"I don't know," Lilligant responded. She looked around the forest frantically before regaining her composure. "Okay. We're alone. Let's make a plan to get back to camp."

"A-alone? In the woods?" Torchic whimpered.

Lilligant looked at him sympathetically. "It's okay, Torchic. The forest's not that scary. It's not nighttime, there's no wild Pokemon, it's not raining…things could be a lot worse."

"I guess so," Torchic said. "S-so what's the plan?"

LIlligant thought for a moment. "Hm…well, let's try to find a way out of the forest first. After that, I can probably determine which direction we have to be going in."

"Okay," said Torchic agreeably. He followed Lilligant as she led the way through the forest.

 **-static-**

"So, uh, we've never really talked much before," Reuniclus said to Frillish as the two of them stopped by a river to get a drink. The two of them had the tent, which Reuniclus was glad about because night would fall soon. "What do you like to do?"

Frillish shrugged. "Uh, nothing much. I worked at an ice cream parlor before I came here, and I made a few friends there. What do you do?"

"I'm just a waiter. Nothing exciting," Reuniclus said. "Anyway, we should set up the tent soon. It's getting dark, and we haven't found anyone else yet."

Frillish nodded. "Okay."

 **-static-**

"Let's try going this way next."

Lopunny and Minun made their way through the forest, completely and utterly lost. Neither of them had the compass or the map, and Minun was just relying on Lopunny for directions. Lopunny was just guessing at random.

"Lopunny, do you really know where you're going?" asked Minun doubtfully.

"No, I don't," said Lopunny, not even turning around. "But you said you didn't know where we were, so I'm just trying to get us out of the woods right now."

"Fair enough," said Minun. "So—wait, hold up." She grabbed Lopunny's arm and pulled the tall bunny back behind a bush. Ahead of them, Noivern and Baltoy were arguing about directions. "Those two are on the other team!"

"So what's your point?" Lopunny whispered. "We can just go around them."

"No, we should think strategically—Diancie said the whole team had to return for it to count as a victory," Minun said. "So if we knock out Noivern and Baltoy, then those two will cause their team to lose!"

"You want to sabotage the other team?" Lopunny asked. "Isn't that almost like cheating?"

"It's fair," Minun assured Lopunny. "You gotta do what you gotta do to win. It's a competition; let's just put the odds in our favor."

Lopunny hesitated for a moment and then smiled. "Okay, I trust you. If we're going to attack these guys, we should have the element of surprise. You climb that tree over there and go for Baltoy when I give the signal. I'll take Noivern."

Minun nodded and scampered up a tree. Lopunny hid in the bushes a short distance away. The two of them watched Noivern and Baltoy carefully.

"I know camp is that way!" insisted Noivern.

"And I know you're wrong. I searched for the key before, so I know the island better," argued Baltoy.

"We don't have the map! How can you be so sure?" asked Noivern hotly. "I'm the one who can fly here, and from what I saw up there, camp should be THAT way!" The bat jabbed a wing in the opposite direction Baltoy was trying to lead her.

"You specifically said you didn't see camp when you flew up," Baltoy said, raising an eyebrow.

Noivern scoffed. "Yeah, but I know what the area around it looks like! If you'd just trust me for a moment, we could—"

BAM!

Upon seeing Lopunny's signal, Minun leaped from the tree and tackled Baltoy to the ground. Noivern jumped back, startled, and Lopunny took the opportunity to kick Noivern in the back of the head. Noivern yelped and fell to the ground, clutching her head.

"We're being attacked!" screeched Noivern, hitting Lopunny with her wings as Lopunny pinned her to the ground.

"No shit!" Baltoy yelled back, whacking Minun with one of his arms. The Electric-type tumbled backwards and narrowly avoided crashing into a tree. She got back up and charged Baltoy, but she was stopped by an unseen force.

"You're forgetting something," Baltoy said, smirking. "I'm a Psychic-type. You can struggle all you want, but I can hold you right there with my mind. And you seem to have forgotten the most important thing…"

Minun struggled helplessly as the ground beneath her began cracking. Pillars of jagged stone emerged from the earth. Baltoy grinned meanly. "I'm a Ground-type."

The pillars of stone shot upward at Minun, but Minun fell to the ground and avoided being hit as Lopunny smacked Baltoy on the back of the head. He fell unconscious, and Minun looked over to see Noivern unconscious as well. Lopunny offered Minun a hand, and she took it, pulling herself up.

"You know how to fight," Minun said, impressed.

Lopunny smiled shyly. "Well, yeah. My dad taught me all sorts of things when I was younger. My favorite is Ice Punch," she said, grinning as her fist suddenly became encased in ice. "Useful for taking out Pokemon like Noivern."

Minun smiled back. "I wish I knew cool moves like that. Come on, let's get back to camp."

Lopunny and Minun began walking in the direction they thought camp was in again, leaving Baltoy and Noivern sprawled unconscious on the forest floor.

 **-static-**

 **"They got us, and they got us good," Noivern grumbled, tenderly rubbing her head. "I had no idea Lopunny was such a threat."**

 **-static-**

"Come oooon, Boldore! You're so slow!"

Azurill poked Boldore with her tail again and the rock rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Boldore, there's a challenge to win. Any other time I'd let you just sit and be a rock, but we've gotta move!" Azurill said persistently.

Boldore teetered to her legs and began lumbering off into the distance. "That's the spirit!" cheered Azurill, following Boldore by jumping from tree to tree. "Man, I love the forest!"

 **-static-**

"A mountain? We're literally crossing a mountain?" Castform said, looking up at the enormous mountain before her. "I…I don't even have words for this."

Liepard dug her claws into the mountain's rocky slope. "It's not that difficult," she said to Castform, pulling herself up onto a ledge. "You just have to get started, and then it's all—never mind, it's not all downhill from there. But it gets easier."

Castform levitated up next to Liepard. "It's not hard at all when you can levitate, though!" she laughed. "Need a hand?"

"That would be nice," grunted Liepard as she pulled herself up even higher.

"Too bad! I don't have any!" Castform giggled gleefully. "Oh, I should really stop, shouldn't I? My jokes might drive you up a wall!"

Castform cackled loudly and Liepard groaned. It was going to be a long climb.

 **-static-**

Dusclops and Chandelure entered a clearing in the woods. Leppa Berry trees were scattered about the clearing. "Well, this isn't the place," Dusclops said, leaning against a tree with his back. "Maybe we made a wrong turn."

"Clearly," Chandelure said. "I'll call the shots this time around. You follow me this time."

"Okay, no objections here," Dusclops said, shrugging. He followed Chandelure back the way they came, and she led him north to a river.

"Wait, I see someone," said Dusclops, grabbing Chandelure.

She looked at him sternly. "Don't touch me."

"Sorry."

Chandelure looked more carefully and saw that a tent had been pitched by the side of the river. She saw two figures inside the tent but was unable to discern who they were.

"You want to check it out?" asked Dusclops. "Maybe they're on our team. We could use some help, you know."

"Sure. Whatever," Chandelure said. "Go see who they are first without getting their attention. If they're on our team, come tell me. If they're not…we leave."

"Okay," Dusclops said. He faded into the shadows and worked his way over to the tent quietly. The tent was made of a translucent material, and Dusclops was able to make out the shapes of Reuniclus and Frillish inside. He waved to Chandelure, who floated out after him.

"Be quiet; Reuniclus and Frillish are inside," Dusclops informed her. "Should we…sabotage them or something? To help our team win?"

Chandelure looked thoughtful. "Hm…what do you think?"

"I'm…not entirely on board with the idea," admitted Dusclops. "Sabotage isn't exactly up my alley, but if you want to—"

"No. We don't have to," said Chandelure. "Let's go before they notice us."

Dusclops nodded and followed Chandelure as they continued away from the woods.

 **-static-**

"Swinub, wait for me! Seriously!"

"Run faster, Clauncher! I can smell the food!"

Clauncher frantically dashed after Swinub, panting as he began to run out of breath. As soon as Swinub had caught the scent of food from camp, he had started running and hadn't stopped.

Jirachi and Diancie watched in astonishment as Swinub burst through the trees and flew into camp. "Where's the food?" he exclaimed.

"We haven't even finished segments with all the groups yet!" protested Jirachi. "There's no way you reached camp this early without cheating!"

"I just smelled food, so I came to eat some," said Swinub. "There is food, right?"

Diancie set down a tray of freshly baked cookies. "Considering your performance, I guess I'll let you have one," she said, winking at Swinub. The pig squealed in delight and gobbled down a cookie.

 **-static-**

 **"Diancie and I are on good terms. We hang out a lot! Probably because I like to hang out in the cafeteria and she's the island's only cook," Swinub said. "But still, she's really nice!"**

 **-static-**

Clauncher dragged himself into camp several minutes after Swinub, muttering to himself about "a crazy pig" before collapsing on the ground.

"Hey! Claws! No sleeping in the middle of camp!" Jirachi shouted. Clauncher grunted in response and ignored him.

"Well, that's two Pokemon back from the Great Gastrodons," Diancie said. "They've taken the lead, surprisingly. Let's see how the remaining campers are doing."

 **-static-**

"You've got the compass, right?" Tyranitar asked, nudging Kakuna.

"Yep. I think we should stop somewhere around here for tonight, though. It's getting pretty dark and I don't want us getting lost," Kakuna said. "How about we camp out in that cave over there for tonight?"

Tyranitar looked where Kakuna was referring to. A small cave was lodged between the large rocky protrusions of the mountains they were in. The inside looked dry and safe, but a bit dark. Being a Dark-type, Tyranitar wasn't afraid at all, but it would still be difficult to see in.

"Okay. We can stay here," agreed Tyranitar. "And we'll set out in the morning."

 **-static-**

"Well, we're lucky we got the tent, aren't we?" Chatot asked as rain began pouring overhead. He was with Jolteon inside the small canvas tent, and they were still in the forest. "I just wish we'd have found our way outta these woods by now."

"Me too," Jolteon said. "I hope the other team's as lost as we are, because losing this challenge could be bad for us."

"Sure, losin' could be bad for anyone," Chatot said. "But we got an alliance, remembah? Druddigon will help us vote, too. There's nothin' to worry about."

Jolteon nodded and rested his head against the floor of the tent. "Right. Guess I'm going to call it a night."

"See ya in the mornin', bud," Chatot chirped.

 **-static-**

"IT'S AS DARK AS A HOUNDOOM'S STOMACH IN HERE," complained Escavalier loudly. "ARE YOU SURE THIS TUNNEL IS A SHORTCUT TO CAMP?"

"Yes. Please shut up," said Druddigon firmly. "I've been in these caves before when I was looking for the key to that chest. I know my way back from here."

"YOU LOOKED FOR THE KEY TOO? DID YOU FIND IT?" asked Escavalier, a dangerous gleam in her eye.

Druddigon folded his arms and looked back at Escavalier. "Maybe. If I did, I wouldn't tell you; if I didn't, I wouldn't tell you either. Now focus on the challenge."

Escavalier laughed for no reason at all and followed Druddigon further into the tunnels.

 **-static-**

"It'sss getting dark, Mienssshao. We should ssstop," Seviper suggested.

Of all the campers to get paired with, Mienshao wasn't thrilled to find that she had been put with Seviper. But Mienshao had the map with her, and she knew that she'd have to get Seviper back with her to win the challenge. She had decided not to make any moves against Seviper this time.

"No. We're not stopping. According to the map, we're somewhere along the eastern coast of the island, and judging by the distance from the forest to the shoreline, we're not far from camp," Mienshao said. "So we're not stopping until we get to camp. Is that clear?"

"Who made you the leader?" hissed Seviper, getting fed up with Mienshao. The weasel had taken control of the group from the beginning of the challenge, since she happened to be the one with the map. Seviper was fine with being led around, but Mienshao had insisted on taking routes that had turned out to be difficult to navigate and inconvenient. "The only reassson I let you lead isss becaussse you have the map!"

"Yes, I do have the map. So I should lead," Mienshao said firmly.

Seviper hissed quietly. "No. I could have gotten usss to camp by now if you let me look at the map, but you insssisted that you should lead because you had it firssst. Ssso let me have the map and we'll win the challenge."

"You think you can do better than me?" Mienshao said. "Fine. Go ahead. But remember, if you cause us to lose this challenge, I'M the one with the alliance."

Seviper's eyes flashed. So THAT'S why Mienshao had been acting hostile towards her. She was mad at Seviper for declining the offer to join her alliance.

"I don't care about your alliance. I work bessst alone," Seviper said. "If that'sss all this isss about, just let me ussse the map. I'm good with directionsss."

Mienshao tossed the map at Seviper, who caught it in her tail. "It's not just about the alliance," lied Mienshao. "Your performance in the dodgeball challenge was…lackluster."

"What do you expect? I don't have arms or legsss!" Seviper argued.

"Others might not see it that way. Whether or not you have arms or legs doesn't change whether the team wants to keep your or not," Mienshao said calmly, folding her arms. "If you joined my alliance, we could vote with you to prevent—"

"I'M NOT JOINING YOUR ALLIANCE," Seviper said hotly. She was angry by this point. Who did Mienshao think she was? She didn't run this game just because she had a few other Pokemon voting with her!

Mienshao was taken aback by Seviper's anger, but she recovered quickly. "Fine," snapped Mienshao. "You lost your chance. And when you get voted off, don't act surprised. You should've seen it coming."

Mienshao turned and walked off into the woods without Seviper. The snake hissed to herself angrily again and began slithering along the shoreline. The camp was by the northern shore. She'd just follow it until she arrived.

 **-static-**

 **"Big mistake, Seviper," Mienshao said coldly. "I offered you a spot in my alliance multiple times. That's not something to be taken lightly in a game like this. Your mistakes are all going to catch up to you sooner or later."**

 **-static-**

Moonlight shone on the island as rain fell in the forest. Jolteon and Chatot were huddled in a tent trying to prevent the poorly pitched tent from flooding while Reuniclus and Frillish had constructed their tent well and were sleeping comfortably.

By the edge of the woods, Noivern groaned in pain as she rose into consciousness. "Baltoy?" Noivern called groggily.

"Here," Baltoy called back. "Lopunny got us both, huh?"

"Yeah. And we should take cover, because it's raining pretty hard," Noivern remarked as raindrops hit her face. "How about under that big tree?"

Baltoy shrugged and followed her under the shelter of the big tree. They'd just wait until morning to get back to camp.

 **-static-**

"Can't we just stop for the night already?" whined Zoroark. "We've walked all day and we're probably not any closer to camp."

"Shut up," Cryogonal said. "If I had a distinct head, I'm sure it would be aching from your complaints."

Scrafty chuckled at Cryogonal's remark, earning him another nasty look from Zoroark. "Is something funny?" snarled Zoroark.

"Maybe the fact that you're sinking into a pit of quicksand," Scrafty said.

Zoroark looked down and realized in horror that he was, in fact, sinking into quicksand. He hadn't been able to tell it apart from the other wet sand.

"HELP!" screamed Zoroark. "GET BACK HERE AND HELP ME!"

Mawile ran over and grabbed his arms, trying to pull him out. "A little help, guys?" Mawile said, grunting with effort.

"Survival of the fittest," Scrafty remarked. "He didn't see it coming."

"Scrafty, we need all our team members to win the challenge," Mawile reminded him.

"Oh. Right."

"The quicksand's only reached a bit above his knees," Cryogonal said. "We might not be able to pull him out with brute force, but if we can find a sturdy object for him to grab onto, we can get him out eventually."

"THEN FIND A STURDY OBJECT," snarled Zoroark.

"Eh, I say we should ditch him," said Scrafty. Cryogonal nodded in agreement, but Mawile was returning from the woods with a broken tree branch. Zoroark grabbed one end and Mawile hauled him out slowly.

"You could have at least tried to help, guys," Mawile said, frowning at Cryogonal and Scrafty.

"Sorry. I was busy checking you out," Scrafty replied. Mawile flushed a bit and walked past him.

Zoroark cast one more nasty look at Scrafty before following Mawile. Scrafty leaned over to Cryogonal and began whispering. "I don't like that guy. We should do something about him."

"Uh…yeah," Cryogonal said. He wasn't expecting to agree with Scrafty on much, but he could agree that Zoroark was a mutual enemy.

 **-static-**

"We did it! We did it, we did it!" Azurill exclaimed gleefully, bounding into camp. Boldore followed at a slower pace. "Woohoo! What place are we in, Jirachi?"

Jirachi glanced up from the beauty magazine he was reading. "Second. Swinub and Clauncher got here first."

"Second place? Awesome!" Azurill said. "That means we're first on our team, so there's no way we're being voted out!"

Boldore seemed a bit uplifted by the fact that she probably wouldn't be voted off, even if her team lost.

 **-static-**

Morning came faster than most expected. The campers all got on the move again as soon as the sun was up.

Castform and Liepard had reached the mountain's peak by now. "Hey, you look pretty happy today," Castform commented.

"I'm tired from all that climbing, but yeah, I am. Why?" asked Liepard curiously.

Castform peered over the other side of the mountain. The camp was visible in the distance. "Well, you shouldn't get your hopes up," Castform replied. "I think you'll be feeling pretty DOWN soon."

"What do you—oh no," Liepard said in realization as Castform shoved her off the side of the mountain. Castform laughed noisily and flew after Liepard.

 **-static-**

 **"Okay, maybe my jokes get out of hand sometimes," Castform said. "But at least I had fun!"**

 **-static-**

 **"Remind me to exact painful revenge on that floating nightmare later," said Liepard, who had two legs in casts.**

 **-static-**

"Castform and Liepard, third place," Jirachi said. "Kind of surprising, and—dear Arceus, what happened to your legs, Liepard?"

"She did," Liepard said, pointing at Castform. "I'll just be going to the infirmary now."

Jirachi cast a frightened look at Castform. "I don't know what you did to her, but seriously, that's kind of messed up."

"Yeah, sorry," Castform apologized, looking away.

 **-static-**

Other campers began finding their way back to camp soon after. Tyranitar and Kakuna arrived quickly, followed by Mienshao. Dusclops and Chandelure arrived about an hour later, followed up by Chesnaught and Vaporeon as well as Druddigon and Escavalier.

"The Great Gastrodons are in the lead," said Jirachi. "They have one less player left to return. The Marvelous Milotics aren't far behind."

"Wait, here come Lopunny and Minun!" announced Diancie. The two girls high-fived once they reached camp. "The Gastrodons solidify their lead a bit more!"

"I would have expected Mawile's group to be back by now," muttered Jirachi. "They have the map AND the compass."

"We're back!" Chatot shouted from above. Jirachi and Diancie looked up to see him descending from the sky as Jolteon emerged from the woods beneath him. "How's our team doin'?"

"You're losing!" said Jirachi brightly. "But that's okay, because it's only by one player!"

Chatot frowned anyway. "It's still losin'."

 **-static-**

"This doesn't make any sense," Mawile said. "The map shows the camp here, but there's only a lake."

Her group looked up to see a brilliant blue lake before them. While it was a sight to see, it was not what they were looking for.

"Wait a second, that's not right," Cryogonal said, taking the map from Mawile. "I think we're reading the map wrong, because according to this, the docks should be behind us somewhere."

"The docks aren't far from camp," Scrafty said. "Maybe we should try getting there first."

"The point is that we _didn't_ see the docks, though," said Cryogonal. "The map is wrong or we're wrong…I don't get this."

"I think we read it wrong. But I swear the map looks different than it did yesterday," said Mawile, frowning. "Damn it. Scrafty, you've got the compass. Let's use that instead."

"Sure thing, princess," Scrafty said, tossing the compass to Mawile. The group began following that instead.

 **-static-**

"Seviper, you've arrived! That puts the Gastrodons ahead a bit more," Jirachi said. "Although I'm not sure why you're traveling alone like Mienshao. We DID assign you guys partners…"

"I work bessst alone," Seviper said quietly, slipping past the host. Jirachi shrugged.

 **-static-**

"That's it! That's the camp up ahead! This challenge wasn't so hard," Reuniclus said.

Frillish nodded. "I've got the tent packed. Let's get moving!"

The two of them moved as quickly as they could toward the camp. Unfortunately, as they were getting close, they crashed into Baltoy and Noivern, who emerged from a different path.

"Watch where you're going," Baltoy groaned. "Wait a second, you're on the other team. Please don't tell me this is another attack."

"Attack?" Reuniclus asked, puzzled. "Someone on our team attacked you?"

"Yeah. Lopunny and Minun. I didn't think those two had it in them," Noivern said. "I take it you guys aren't going to fight us."

"No," said Reuniclus. "We're on the way to camp too, so…same goal, you know?"

"Cool," said Noivern, smiling at the gelatinous Pokemon. "I guess we'll travel with you guys from here."

 **-static-**

 **"All this friendship stuff going on is stupid," Baltoy said. "I mean, we're all enemies here. Only one of us gets to win the million dollars. I'd rather it be me than anyone else. I don't need to make friends that I'm just going to betray later."**

 **-static-**

Reuniclus, Frillish, Baltoy, and Noivern reached the camp quickly, meaning only six Pokemon were left out in the wild.

"Ooh, this is getting intense," Jirachi said, rubbing his hands together. "I like it when things get intense! Drama is good."

"For you it is," muttered Dusclops.

"The Milotics still have Scrafty, Cryogonal, Mawile, and Zoroark out there somewhere," announced Jirachi. "The Gastrodons are only waiting on Lilligant and Torchic. Cutting it close, guys. Cutting it close!"

 **-static-**

"I think I h-heard someone following us," Torchic said nervously. "C-can we please move faster?"

"It's hard to move faster in tall grass," Lilligant said, shuffling through the grass as quickly as she could. "But this place does give me the creeps."

Torchic heard a twig snap behind him and whirled around. He saw a shadow quickly rush behind a bush for cover. Yelping in fear, Torchic ran past Lilligant and sprinted for camp as quickly as he possibly could.

"What the…?" Lilligant watched Torchic tearing off into the distance. Suddenly, she felt someone breathing on the back of her neck. Screaming in terror, she ran after him. She thought she heard quiet laughter as she ran.

 **-static-**

"There's camp!" shouted Scrafty, looking over the hillside and seeing the camp below. "Let's go!"

The four Milotics ran down the hill and sprinted for the camp. Out of the corner of his eye, Zoroark saw Torchic and Lilligant running as well. They were approaching camp at the same rate as the Milotics.

"Faster!" barked Zoroark, running ahead of his group. The teams got closer and closer to camp, until…

"Lilligant and Torchic, congratulations! You've won the challenge for the Great Gastrodons!" Jirachi announced as Torchic and Lilligant skidded to a halt as they reached camp.

"It's about time we won," Chesnaught grunted. Minun frowned at him.

Zoroark arrived in camp shortly after them, followed by Mawile, Scrafty and Cryogonal. "I'm disappointed in you guys," Jirachi said, shaking his head. "You had the map and the compass and still came in last."

"The map's directions didn't add up!" Mawile said. "We followed it where camp was supposed to be, but—"

"No time for complaining! The Gastrodons win!" Jirachi shouted. "Milotics, you'll be at the elimination tonight."

Mawile looked down at the map in frustration. The docks, camp, and cliff were positioned in ways that didn't make sense. The map misled her. She was certain of it.

 **-static-**

"We did it!" Tyranitar shouted in excitement as the Gastrodons gathered by their cabins. "We won this challenge! We should throw a party tonight, guys!"

"Really? That would be fun," agreed Reuniclus. "Who else wants to party?"

Most of the Gastrodons cheered and began filing into the cabins. Tyranitar and Reuniclus went off to raid the cafeteria for snacks.

"You did good out there today," Swinub said to Torchic once the chicken arrived in the cabin. "I mean, you did arrive last, but at least we won, right?"

"Yeah," mumbled Torchic. "Hey, do you want to go out and do some training tonight? I don't feel like partying anyway."

Swinub was about to mention that he _did_ feel like partying, but he knew his friend needed his help right now. "Sure," he said. "I can help you!"

The two of them left as the party was beginning. Lopunny and Minun talked with Lilligant about how they worked together and defeated Noivern and Baltoy in the challenge. Others, like Seviper, remained solitary during the party.

Tyranitar pulled Kakuna aside. "So, I was talking with my friends Reuniclus and Clauncher earlier. We're in an alliance, see?" Tyranitar said to Kakuna. "And I asked if we could add members, and they agreed."

"Let me guess, you want me to join?" asked Kakuna. Tyranitar nodded. "I don't know…I don't want to get tangled in any alliance messes if I don't know what I'm getting into. Let me think about it. I'll get back to you tomorrow."

Tyranitar nodded. "Okay, sure. I'll tell them that you're considering it."

"Thanks for the offer," said Kakuna. "Even if I decide not to join, I'm glad that you chose me."

"It's no big deal," said Tyranitar. "I'm off to hit the snack bar. See you later, buddy!"

 **-static-**

Mawile was on her laptop, comparing the map from the challenge to an overhead view of the island. The pictures didn't match up, as she had suspected.

"What's going on here?" asked Azurill, bouncing on her bunk across from Mawile.

"I was the one with the map in the challenge," Mawile told Azurill. "The reason I got to camp so late was because I thought I had gotten lost on the map. But if you take a look, the map doesn't even match up with what the island looks like."

Azurill took a look and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. The hosts probably did that to trick us or something. They're sneaky like that; they never said the map would be correct."

"Maybe. I doubt that, though," Mawile said. "It's no use thinking about it anymore, I guess. We still lost. We'll have to head down to the campfire pit soon."

 **-static-**

"Well, well. This is your first time losing," Jirachi said, looking over each member of the Marvelous Milotics. "The rules for elimination are easy! You vote for someone you want to be sent home; the Pokemon with the most votes goes home. You can only vote ONCE, so no exploiting loopholes."

"You place your votes in this box and we'll make a tally," said Diancie, holding up a black box. "If you're safe tonight, you'll receive a Pokeblock. The Pokemon to not receive a Pokeblock is the one going home."

"So now that you understand everything, go vote!" Jirachi said. The Milotics got up and filed into the confessional to make their votes.

 **-static-**

 **"The choice was easy," said Baltoy. "I just had to pick whoever I didn't like. Which means I can pick anyone here."**

 **-static-**

 **"I didn't want to lose anyone, so I had to think strategically," Azurill said. "And I figured out who has probably helped us the least. Sorry, but I know who my choice is!"**

 **-static-**

 **"I think Liepard hates me," said Castform. "Yikes. That's one vote."**

 **-static-**

"Ya remembah the plan, don'tcha?" Chatot asked Jolteon and Druddigon as they both appeared. "We vote togethah and that way we win the majority vote. And I have an idea for who should leave tonight."

"Do tell," said Druddigon, looking at Chatot with interest.

 **-static-**

"Here we go," said Jirachi, picking up the tray of Pokeblocks. "Come up once your name is called to receive a Pokeblock. Chatot."

The bird squawked happily and hopped up to receive his Pokeblock. "Cryogonal, Azurill, Noivern," Jirachi continued. "And Dusclops."

Cryogonal looked relieved to get a Pokeblock, and Azurill and Noivern exchanged a grin. Dusclops took his and gave Jirachi a thumbs-up. "Jolteon, Mawile, and Boldore, you're all safe," Jirachi called.

The next three got up and took their Pokeblocks. "Druddigon, Baltoy, Castform, and Liepard," said Jirachi. Druddigon nodded to Jolteon and Chatot while Baltoy took his and sat back down. Castform and Liepard exchanged an uncomfortable glance.

"Ah, the final four. Truly the tensions have begun," Jirachi said, smiling. Zoroark, Scrafty, Escavalier, and Chandelure still remained before him. "Chandelure, you're good to go. You didn't mess anything up."

Chandelure claimed her Pokeblock wordlessly and levitated over next to Dusclops, who shifted over to give her room.

The final three had varying expressions. Zoroark looked offended that he'd rank this lowly, Scrafty didn't seem to have a care in the world, and Escavalier was stabbing at nothing. Jirachi tossed a Pokeblock up and down in one hand, milking the suspense for all it was worth.

"Scrafty, you're safe for tonight. I guess nobody here hates you, even if you're not good for much," Jirachi said. Scrafty rolled his eyes and snatched up the Pokeblock.

"And now we have our final two!" Jirachi said dramatically. "Any last words from either of you?"

"I know I'm not leaving this early," said Zoroark. "I'm a strong competitor."

"I want some Figy pudding," Escavalier sighed.

"Well, you have another chance to eat some Figy pudding! The last Pokeblock is yours, Escavalier!" Jirachi shouted, throwing her the Pokeblock.

"WHAT?" shrieked Zoroark, realizing he was about to be eliminated. "That's not possible! You can't keep her instead of me! I'm smarter than her! I'm stronger than her! I'm—"

"A complete asshole," Scrafty finished for him. "Dude, nobody likes you. Get out of here."

Zoroark screamed in rage and stormed into the confessional.

 **-static-**

 **"I don't know WHAT these idiots think they're doing, but they'll realize their mistake once I'm gone!" shouted Zoroark. "They wasted so many opportunities by eliminating me rather than someone useless like Scrafty or Escavalier! I hope Scrafty gets eliminated next; he's a selfish jerk."**

 **Zoroark looked up at the camera. "But if I were to pick someone to win, Baltoy's got what it takes. Sure, the dude's a bit of a prick, but he's smart, and he's willing to do what he has to to win. I'll back him up if I have to choose."**

 **"So long, Pokemon Drama Island. I hated every moment here," Zoroark snarled, slamming the confessional door behind him when he left.**

 **-static-**

Zoroark climbed aboard his Lapras and sailed away, not looking back at his teammates once. Most of them were glad to see him go.

Baltoy watched Zoroark leave, a bit disappointed at the outcome of the votes. He was hoping he'd be able to use Zoroark to get the idol, but he'd have to change his plans. Once he got inside the warehouse, there might be clues on how to break into the chest.

Baltoy chuckled darkly to himself. The other campers would be left far behind once Baltoy discovered whatever was inside that warehouse.

 **-static-**

Deep in the woods in the center of the island, several Pokemon were gathered together. A Trevenant laughed to himself as he held the Milotics' real map in his hand.

"She had no idea the replacement map was a fake!" the Trevenant said, roaring with laughter. The Noctowl next to him laughed noisily, and the Shiftry across from him seemed amused. "I didn't think I drew the map THAT well."

"You guys know we aren't supposed to mess with the players on the show," Shiftry said. "Jirachi would kill us if he found out we messed with the competition."

"We're just having a little fun. This IS our forest, after all," Trevenant pointed out. "We just let Jirachi use it for his challenge."

Noctowl hooted. "We should totally mess with them more often! It was fun screwing them up," she cackled.

Shiftry looked a bit disapproving. "You two can do that stuff if you want, and I won't stop you, but it does feel wrong rigging this stuff a bit."

"Party pooper," Noctowl said mockingly.

"Shut up."

* * *

I've probably said this before, but I'm sorry for the delay on this chapter. I don't have any good excuses so I won't make any.

There are some interesting developments this chapter, though—we've got mischievous forest dwellers tampering with the campers for fun as well as some good character interaction.

Mienshao and Seviper finally kick off what I consider to be the first real rivalry on the show, and they're pretty serious about it. Seviper's in a tough spot, since Mienshao has an alliance backing her. Guess we'll see how that goes in time.

Kakuna might join Reuniclus's alliance, which could be good for him since he's not a strong player on his own. Although he does seem to want to evolve, which could change things.

Speaking of evolution, how about Torchic? The little guy stepped up a bit, and while he's still the resident coward, he's now the resident coward on the winning team! And Swinub is training him so that he might evolve. Woohoo.

And now for my commentary on the eliminated contestant, Zoroark. He was an interesting character with big plans, and believe it or not, he _was_ actually a very strong player. He lacked the motivation to work with others, however, and his hateful attitude made an enemy out of just about everyone.

In the end, Zoroark failed to retrieve the key in time to save himself. There was almost no other way for him to stay in the game besides using the idol because his teammates all hate him. His lack of allies was definitely his downfall.

But that's quite enough from me—I'd like to hear from you! Drop a review below with your thoughts on the chapter!

Oh, and happy Easter to those who celebrate it!

Zoroark: Review or whatever. I don't care, I hate this show.


	5. Putting the Pain in Paintball

Hello again! It's time for another chapter!

This story will probably be slowing down even more after this chapter because, unfortunately, real life is a thing that gets in the way. A lot. Worry not, I won't stop writing—it'll just be at a slower pace.

Here we go!

* * *

Azurill poked her head through a bush and peeked around. Nobody was there. She jumped out of the bush and began inspecting every tree closely in her search for the idol.

After her eighth tree, Azurill was feeling tired. "Okay, new plan," she said, sitting down on a mossy log. "It's probably not hidden in the woods; that's too obvious. I'll try somewhere else."

"Just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's wrong."

Azurill jumped at the voice and looked up to see Noivern flying down from the sky. "Oh! Noivern!" said Azurill, bouncing over to the big bat on her tail. "What are you doing out here?"

"Same as you. Looking for that idol. And listening to some music," Noivern said, holding up her phone. "My old songs were terrible. Ha ha."

"Did you find anything yet?" Azurill asked. Noivern shook her head. "No key? No clues? Darn. Me neither."

"I think I'll hang around the woods a bit longer and look around here. You can head off somewhere else if you're done; I'd recommend the tunnels south of here," Noivern said. "Seems like the tunnels would have a lot to hide."

"Thanks for the tip!" Azurill said, smiling at Noivern as she flung herself in the direction of the tunnels. Noivern watched as her cheery friend disappeared into the distance.

"I hope we find that idol soon. Searching for it is such a chore," Noivern said sullenly. "Wonder how my friends are back at camp."

 **-static-**

Cryogonal watched in amazement as Boldore put him in checkmate once more. "How did you do that?" asked Cryogonal. "I…totally didn't see that one coming. You're a whole lot better at chess than my sisters."

Boldore's eyes lit up happily and she gazed at Cryogonal with an expression that he couldn't read. The snowflake cleared the chessboard and put the pieces back in his set. "Rematch again tomorrow?" asked Cryogonal.

Boldore nodded and got out of her chair. She began walking towards the door when Cryogonal froze up. He had a chance now, and he'd been waiting for the right moment to take it.

"Uh…Boldore, before you go, I wanted to ask you something." Boldore turned around and fixed Cryogonal with a curious expression. Cryogonal nervously bumped against the table. "Um…you and I have been, uh, spending a lot of time together lately and I was…wondering if maybe you'd…"

Boldore's eyes widened as she waited excitedly for Cryogonal to finish. "…Uh, I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to keep playing chess daily," Cryogonal finished lamely. Boldore looked down in disappointment.

 **-static-**

 **"Ugh, what am I doing?" Cryogonal asked, frustrated with himself. "Why can't I just man up and ask her out? I'm such a coward…it shouldn't be this hard to do! Everybody else I know got a girlfriend easily!"**

 **Cryogonal banged his head, or lack thereof, against a wall. "This is stupid. I should be focusing on the game," he muttered to himself. "I need to stop thinking about Boldore and focus on the game. That'll simplify things."**

 **-static-**

"You gonna finish those?" asked Scrafty, eyeing Jolteon's food stash hungrily.

Jolteon glanced up at Scrafty from the floor. "Uh, probably not. You can have some," he offered, handing a bag of chocolate snacks up to Scrafty.

"Choconaws: the candy with a sweet tooth," Scrafty read from the package. "Made with 100% real Croconaw—er, chocolate. Stupid font."

 **-static-**

 **"Things are a lot quieter around our cabin with Zoroark gone," Jolteon said. "I mean, that's totally a good thing. I never liked that guy. Just saying it's different around here now."**

 **-static-**

The door to the male Milotics' cabin was flung open and a drenched Chatot walked in. "Remind me nevah to look for the key in the swamp while it's rainin'," Chatot said, collapsing onto his bed.

"That bad?" asked Jolteon, raising an eyebrow.

"I haven't seen you tryin' ta get your hands on that idol yet," Chatot replied. "You got a plan, or are you just bettin' on the fact that we've got better folks to vote off?"

"The latter," Jolteon replied smoothly. "If it comes down to my elimination, though, I'll probably look for the idol."

Chatot nodded and eyed Jolteon's food stash enviously. "Where'd you even get all those snacks? Swinub?" Chatot snorted.

Jolteon's eyes widened. "Who told you that? I thought the deal was supposed to be kept secret!"

Chatot raised an eyebrow. "Uh, I was kiddin'. Just a joke."

Jolteon laughed nervously and shoved his pile of food under his bed. "Ha ha. Right. Yeah. I was joking! Ha ha…" he trailed off. Chatot watched him awkwardly.

 **-static-**

 **"Okay, so admittedly I have some eating disorders," said Jolteon, a bag of chips in his paw. "So I made a deal with Swinub to get my hands on some food in secret. I just don't want people to know that I have to constantly keep eating…that might ruin my image."**

 **Jolteon froze up. "Wait a second, why am I even admitting this in the confessional? This stuff gets aired internationally! Stupid, stupid!" He smacked his face with a paw.**

 **-static-**

"Hey." Lopunny looked up from her magazine at the sound of Vaporeon's voice. Surely enough, the blue Eeveelution was watching Lopunny from the bunk across the room. "You want to come with me to the lake? I was thinking of going for a swim."

"Oh. Sure," Lopunny said, a bit surprised. She didn't go down to the lake often—as a matter of fact, she hadn't gone there since the first challenge. What surprised Lopunny even more was that Vaporeon would want to go with _her_ —Lopunny hadn't taken the time to make many friends yet; her only real friend was Minun.

The two girls left the female Gastrodons' cabin and went down to the lake. Chesnaught was by the shore, punching a training dummy vigorously; other than him, the lake was vacant, however.

"I've never been here since the challenge," Lopunny said to Vaporeon. "The lake looks really nice at this time of day."

"Yeah, it does," Vaporeon agreed. The sun cast a reflection across the lake, causing the water to glow a bright gold hue. "I come down here most mornings for a few laps around the lake. I have to keep in shape somehow, and swimming is what I like to do most."

Vaporeon led Lopunny to the shore. "You want to come in, too?" Vaporeon asked, hopping in the water carefully so as not to create a huge splash. "Water's pretty nice right now."

Lopunny shook her head and looked away. Vaporeon noticed her face was a bit red. "Uh…n-no, I'm good. Thanks."

 **-static-**

 **"Lopunny was acting…kinda weird this morning. Like she was more quiet and stuff, and she's usually not like that around the team," Vaporeon said. "I'm not one to get involved in other people's business, though. Maybe she's afraid of water? She didn't act like it back in the first challenge."**

 **Vaporeon shrugged. "No point in dwelling on that. Maybe I'm reading into this too much."**

 **-static-**

"Come on, Torchic! You've gotta hit a little harder than that!" Swinub commanded his friend. Torchic weakly swiped at Swinub with one of his talons again. Swinub shook his head.

"I don't get it. You keep attacking, but I can tell you're not really giving it your all," Swinub said. "What's wrong, Torchic? Why are you holding back?"

Torchic looked reluctant to answer. "Dude, come on. I'm your friend. You can tell me," Swinub assured Torchic.

"Is this training _really_ enough to get me to evolve? It doesn't seem like what we're doing is working," Torchic said doubtfully. "I don't feel any stronger."

"And you're not going to with that attitude!" Swinub said. "Come on, dude! You have to really try or it won't work at all! That's why it's called training—you're trying to get better!"

"And you're sure this will w-work?" Torchic asked skeptically. "You haven't evolved, either."

"It usually takes my species longer to evolve than yours," Swinub explained. "Seriously, Torchic, you can do it if you try harder!"

Torchic nodded after a moment. "Okay. I'll keep trying. So what's next in the training?"

Swinub grinned. "Now is the part where you learn to BREATHE FIRE."

 **-static-**

Tyranitar, Clauncher, and Reuniclus were gathered in the cafeteria, enjoying some breakfast. Diancie had cooked up some waffles for that day.

Reuniclus doused his waffles in syrup. Clauncher watched him as he poured half the bottle on one waffle. "You sure like syrup, don't you?" asked Clauncher.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, guess I do," Reuniclus said. "So Tyranitar, how'd the recruitment go? Did you get anyone to join the alliance?"

"He said he'd think about it," Tyranitar replied. "I'm sure we'll have our answer by the end of the day. Personally, I think he'll take us up on the offer, but I can't exactly say that for sure."

Reuniclus nodded. "Okay. Well, if this works, we'll be up by one more alliance member, and that never hurts. Now I guess we just wait until the—"

"CHALLENGE TIME! REPORT TO THE GYM AREA!" Jirachi shouted over the intercom.

"Duty calls," muttered Reuniclus, finishing his waffles and heading outside.

 **-static-**

All of the campers eventually arrived outside of the multi-purpose building, which had still been serving as the gymnasium since the dodgeball challenge. Jirachi and Diancie were waiting there in front of the doors.

"Everybody inside," Jirachi said, opening the doors telekinetically. The campers wandered in to see that the dodgeball court had disappeared to be replaced by two shelves in the middle of the floor. The shelves were filled with guns in two different colors: pink and blue.

"Guns? I thought this show was for kids," Swinub said.

"Eh, we direct our production more toward teens and young adults," Jirachi said, waving his hand around. "But that's not the point. They're not real guns, because we're not allowed to have you shoot each other with real bullets! Instead, you'll notice that these are…"

"…Paintball guns," finished Dusclops, inspecting the guns closely. "I used to play paintball as a kid."

"Exactly!" Jirachi said. "10 points to Dusclops for guessing correctly!"

"YEAH! WE GOT POINTS!" shouted Escavalier. "WAIT, WHAT DO THE POINTS EVEN MEAN?"

"Nothing! I love dashing people's hopes!" laughed Jirachi. "Man, you guys are such easy targets. Anyway, 10 points to whoever can guess the challenge!"

"Paintball," said Chandelure flatly.

"Correctamundo!" Jirachi exclaimed. "Although your lack of enthusiasm is killing my mood, Chandelure, so minus 10 points. The challenge is, as she guessed, paintball!"

"Seeing as a simple game of paintball would be too easy for you all, however," Diancie added, "we've added some measures to make this interesting. First off, notice that your paintball guns are not all the same!"

"I was wondering about that," Mienshao said, looking at a small pistol-shaped gun and then a much larger rifle. "We get to use different guns?"

"Bingo! 10 points to the Gastrodons!" Jirachi said. Diancie rolled her eyes. "But the gun you get is entirely random, so that way you can't accuse us of picking favorites! So we've got everything from pistols to rocket launchers, slingshots to catapults, and everything in between!"

"Wait, slingshots?" asked Noivern. "How are we supposed to use those?"

"Don't ask me! Be creative!" Jirachi said. "I don't get paid to figure out challenges for you, I get paid to make them harder! Hop to it, campers!"

"I'll assign each of you a weapon," Diancie said. "So, here we go. First off, Jolteon gets…an assault rifle. One of my favorites, that one."

Jolteon took the rifle and grinned. This was his kind of weapon.

"I'm certain you've noticed by now the guns are pink and blue; they're color coded by team. Milotics get pink, Gastrodons get blue. That should clear up any confusion," Jirachi interjected.

"Seviper, you get a crossbow. Another personal favorite of mine," Diancie said. "Though I think you may have some trouble operating it."

"You think?" asked Seviper sarcastically. She took the weapon, knowing that trying to reason in order to get a new weapon wouldn't work on the hosts.

Diancie continued rattling off names until everyone had received a weapon. Liepard and Lopunny were also dealt rifles, Castform was given a shotgun that she unfortunately couldn't hold, Druddigon got the catapult, Dusclops and Clauncher received sniper rifles, and Chatot was furious to find out that he received the slingshot. Tyranitar and Escavalier received rocket launchers, Lilligant got a tank (she decided not to ask), Mienshao, Torchic, and Noivern received pistols, Swinub received a can of spray paint, and Baltoy and Boldore were given buckets of paint.

The remaining campers exchanged curious glances. The first few weapons had been interesting, so what was left? Diancie passed Kakuna a jar of sauce and Mawile eyed the hose she was handed disappointedly.

"I don't think this distribution of resources is fair," Mawile said as Vaporeon received a cannon. "They have a tank. And a cannon now, apparently."

"This isn't even a gun," Kakuna said. "It's Tamato sauce."

"Quit complaining; we're on a budget," Jirachi said grumpily. "The tank was, like, half of our budget at least. MOVING ON."

Diancie tossed a bottle of shampoo to Scrafty and Frillish received a gatling gun. Chesnaught rubbed his hands together eagerly, hoping for a rocket launcher, when Diancie handed him a bubble blower.

"WHAT?!" roared Chesnaught. "A BUBBLE BLOWER? Seriously?"

"Are you sure you can handle it, big guy? That's a mighty strong weapon you've got there," snorted Jirachi, miserably failing at trying to hide his laughter. "Oh, that's priceless. Ha ha!"

Diancie handed Reuniclus and Azurill some paint grenades and Chandelure was handed a tube filled with paint.

"How am I supposed to shoot this at somebody?" asked Chandelure. "It's literally paint in a tube."

"Use it like a blowgun?" suggested Diancie. "I don't know. Make it work."

Cryogonal and Minun were the only Pokemon without weapons now. "Okay, you two are the last ones. Good," Diancie said. "You both get darts. You throw them at somebody, and they explode into paint on contact!"

Minun looked appreciative of the fact that she was receiving explosive darts. Cryogonal looked less thrilled at the prospect. "I don't have arms, guys," he said to Jirachi and Diancie.

"Welcome to the club," Castform whispered. Seviper was still trying to pick up the crossbow with her tail.

"Now that you've all gotten your weapons, here are the ground rules. The team that loses all of its members first loses. If you get shot by anything, you're out—that includes friendly fire. I think that covers it," Jirachi said. "Get out there!"

The host snapped his fingers and the campers warped to the center of camp with their weapons. Immediately, they began running off, except for those with rather immobile weapons, such as Druddigon, Mawile, and Lilligant.

 **-static-**

 **"A catapult is great if you can hit someone. IF," Druddigon said, groaning. "Anyone could see a catapult firing at them from a mile away. I'm screwed over in this challenge because of my stupid weapon."**

 **-static-**

 **"The good thing about a hose? You can keep spraying someone once they're in range," Mawile said. "The bad news is I have to stay in one place to pump the paint through the hose. Oh boy."**

 **-static-**

Druddigon and Mawile immediately began flinging paint at Lilligant. It bounced off the outside of the tank and splattered the grass in the center of camp. Lilligant watched in amusement from inside as they continued their attack.

"They can't shoot me inside, so I'm safe," Lilligant said. "Unfortunately, I've never used a tank before! So here's to hoping I can figure it—"

A large blast sounded as Lilligant pushed a button at random. A huge glob of paint shot out of the tank and drenched Mawile in blue paint.

Lilligant grinned. "Awesome."

 **-static-**

Seconds later, Druddigon was also covered in blue paint and on his way to the showers after Mawile to clean the paint off.

"That's two down on the Milotics' side!" Jirachi shouted into a megaphone. "Lilligant's getting the game off to a good start for the Gastrodons!"

 **-static-**

 **"It's no wonder she's doing good. She's the one with the tank," Dusclops said. "And come to think of it, we have to come up with a way to shoot her INSIDE the tank. That might be a problem."**

 **-static-**

Mienshao turned the corner and hid behind a cabin. There was no one else around. She readied her pistol and pointed it away from herself.

Suddenly, the bushes rustled, and Scrafty came charging out. The lizard shouted fiercely and readied his bottle of shampoo.

Scrafty squeezed the bottle before Mienshao could react. The shampoo flew out of the bottle…and landed a few feet short of hitting Mienshao. Mienshao smirked and shot Scrafty with her pistol. The lizard groaned. "Come on, man."

"Nice try. Run along now," Mienshao said. Scrafty walked back to camp dejectedly.

 **-static-**

Reuniclus and Tyranitar were sticking together. They'd split from Clauncher a while back after Azurill had started flinging grenades at the group and she chased Clauncher off. Reuniclus had a bag full of his own paint grenades and Tyranitar was hefting a large rocket launcher on his shoulder.

"I think I see someone in between those trees," Reuniclus whispered, pulling Tyranitar a bit to the right so he could see. "I don't want to risk throwing a grenade and missing…try shooting."

Tyranitar looked closer and saw that Boldore was struggling to carry her bucket of paint on her back. He frowned and looked at Reuniclus. "Dude, I'm a pacifist. I'm not shooting her."

Reuniclus facepalmed. "Okay, I can respect that you're a pacifist, but seriously? It's PAINT. They're not real guns. You're not hurting Boldore by shooting her."

"I know, but—" Tyranitar was cut short as a paintball flew into his head and knocked him unconscious.

"Whoops. Wasn't aiming for the head," Liepard muttered apologetically, stepping out of the bushes. She blasted Reuniclus before he could react. "Sorry, guys."

Reuniclus shrugged. "You played a better game than we did. You have nothing to be sorry for."

Liepard grinned at Reuniclus. "Thanks. And, uh, tell Tyranitar I'm sorry for hitting him so hard whenever he wakes up."

 **-static-**

Boldore continued staggering through the woods, trying to balance her bucket of paint so that it wouldn't spill on her. Suddenly, she heard rustling in the bushes behind her. She tried to turn around to see who it was, but she was hit in the face with a dart before she could move.

Minun appeared from the bushes, wielding a quiver of darts. "Better luck next time," Minun said, laughing as she sprinted off to get someone else. Boldore looked down at the ground and spilled her paint halfheartedly on the dirt, staining it a sickly pink.

 **-static-**

"There's no way I can sneak up on someone with a bucket and then dump it on them," Baltoy groaned. "Besides, this is a one-use weapon. Whoever designed this challenge is an idiot."

Suddenly, Kakuna descended from a nearby tree on a thin webbed string. He swung above Baltoy, and as he hovered over Baltoy, he uncapped the bottle of Tamato sauce and dumped it downwards, spilling it all over Baltoy.

"Of course I'd get shot by the cocoon," Baltoy grumbled. "Cheap shot, Kakuna."

"It was a fair shot," Kakuna shot back, landing on a different tree. "You're just mad that you walked right into my trap."

Baltoy grumbled unintelligibly and floated out of the woods. Kakuna seemed happy with his victory.

"Even if that worked this once, I doubt anyone else will just walk right into my trap," Kakuna said. "I better make a change of plans."

Suddenly Kakuna's eyes lit up. "And I have just the thing."

 **-static-**

"How the heck am I supposed ta use this?" Chatot squawked angrily, glaring at the slingshot in his wing. He carefully loaded a paintball in it so as not to get any paint on his wing. "I've gotta get close ta someone ta do this…hm…"

Frillish was wheeling her gatling gun towards the lake a distance away. She didn't seem to have noticed Chatot yet. The bird smirked cockily and flew over behind her silently. He pulled the slingshot back and aimed for her back.

Suddenly, Chatot was splattered in the face with paint. He squawked in surprise and shot the paintball instinctively. The paintball barely missed Frillish, who looked to see who had shot Chatot. Clauncher waved at her from the bushes and gave her a thumbs-up. He aimed his sniper rifle at Chatot, who was struggling to get up.

"Ya already shot me! Put the gun away!" Chatot shouted at Clauncher. The Water-type rolled his eyes and started looking around for other Milotics.

Jolteon stepped into view, scanning the area slowly with his rifle held up at eye level. Unfortunately, he didn't scan the area fast enough, and Clauncher took another opportunity shot, striking the Lightning Pokemon as well. Jolteon sighed in defeat and walked off.

 **-static-**

"Wow, Milotics, you're getting wrecked right now. Really badly," Jirachi said, laughing into his megaphone. "Clauncher takes out another two, giving the Gastrodons even more of an edge!"

Chandelure floated into camp, covered in blue paint. "Never mind, another Milotic is out!" Jirachi shouted into the megaphone. "Wow. I didn't think this would be THAT one-sided."

Chandelure snorted derisively. "I was supposed to fight with a TUBE and you gave them a TANK. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why we're losing."

 **-static-**

Lopunny was in a slightly mountainous area of the island. She had seen Vaporeon blast Chandelure with her cannon a while back. Now it was her turn to take someone down.

She heard the sound of a rock tumbling down the mountain and saw Escavalier sneaking up behind her with a rocket launcher.

"SORRY."

Lopunny was blasted backwards as the force of a paint rocket smashed into her. Escavalier cackled madly and flew off to attack someone else.

 **-static-**

Chesnaught was stomping past some trees when he caught a glimpse of Castform through the trees. He could take a shot at her and get her out.

Chesnaught looked at the bubble blower in his hand. He realized he'd have to blow bubbles at Castform to get her out.

"I'm not doing this. This is humiliating," Chesnaught grumbled, walking past Castform.

 **-static-**

"Darn it. I can't pick this thing up!"

Castform continued struggling to pick up her shotgun while Cryogonal made sure nobody was watching them. He didn't know how he'd use his darts, either—the lack of any limbs between the two of them made this challenge difficult.

"You see anyone out there?" Castform asked Cryogonal. She had given up trying to pick up the shotgun.

"No. We're clear so far," Cryogonal replied.

Suddenly, they both froze up as a figure appeared from the rustling bushes. The figure slithered out slowly, revealing itself as…

"Seviper?" asked Castform. The serpent looked surprised to see anyone else.

"What are you guysss doing here?" asked Seviper. She was dragging her crossbow in her tail. "Well, ssseeing as we can't really ssshoot each other, let'sss call it a truce."

"Deal," said Castform. From behind her, a shot was fired and hit Seviper in the face. Castform whirled around to see Noivern tucking her pistol away.

"What? It's a challenge. Gotta shoot 'em all," said Noivern.

"We had a truce!" Castform said. "That's, like, not cool to break a truce. Just saying."

"You'll be thanking me once we win," Noivern said, grinning at Castform. "Now grab Mr. Snowflake and let's get out of here."

Before they could leave, however, Cryogonal let out a surprised shout as he was doused in sauce from above.

Wait, sauce?

Cryogonal looked up to see a slender yellow bee Pokemon flying above him. The bee flung sauce at Noivern and Castform in quick succession, and neither of them were able to dodge. They were all busy staring at the newly evolved Kakuna.

He had become much taller, and horizontal black stripes now lined his abdomen. He had enormous pointed gray spikes attached to his thin black arms, and his stinger had become much more prominent. His eyes were now a glowing red instead of the old black.

"You can call me Beedrill now," he said, grinning.

 **-static-**

 **"I was NOT expecting that," Noivern said, looking impressed. "Kakuna's probably a lot more of a threat now that he's become a Beedrill. Not only is he smart, but now he can compete in physical challenges like this one."**

 **-static-**

 **"I figured now was as good a time as any to complete my evolution," said Beedrill. "And it's looking like it'll pay off. I'm so much stronger in this form! I'm still getting used to the flying part, but I'll figure that out with time."**

 **Beedrill jabbed at the air with one of his spikes and grinned. "Here I come, victory!"**

 **-static-**

"THERE ARE ONLY FOUR MILOTICS LEFT IN THE GAME! OH, AND ONE MORE ANNOUNCEMENT: KAKUNA EVOLVED! BE SURE TO CONGRATULATE HIM AFTER THE CHALLENGE. OR NOT. I DON'T REALLY CARE, ACTUALLY," said Jirachi's voice through the intercom.

"Only four left? This should be a cakewalk," Frillish said. "Clauncher, you see anyone?"

"Not yet," Clauncher called back. "Well, I see Swinub spray painting some graffiti on the hosts' cabin, but he's on our team."

"Ha ha, that's awesome. What's he painting?" asked Frillish, abandoning her gatling gun to join Clauncher. He allowed her to look through the scope of his sniper rifle. "Ooh. Jirachi's not gonna like that, ha ha."

Thud!

Clauncher looked to see Frillish getting hit by a paintball. He grabbed his rifle and immediately tumbled through the bushes, trying to get out of sight. He glimpsed Dusclops running across the field, a sniper rifle in his hands too. Dusclops put the scope to his eye and saw Clauncher fleeing into the woods. He fired.

…And he missed by a good few yards.

"Curse you, lack of depth perception!" Dusclops growled.

 **-static-**

Lilligant was relaxing in her tank, sipping some lemonade. "Wait, why do I have lemonade?" she wondered aloud. She shrugged and took another sip. "Oh well. It tastes good."

 **-static-**

Mienshao was fleeing through the woods, dodging paint grenades being thrown by Azurill from her high position in a tree. Azurill laughed joyfully as another grenade barely missed Mienshao. "This is so much fun," Azurill giggled.

Suddenly, Mienshao tripped over a branch. Just as Azurill threw a paint grenade to get her, Liepard stepped out of the bushes next to Mienshao and shot her with her rifle. The grenade exploded by Liepard's foot, covering both Liepard and Mienshao in pink paint.

"Sorry, Liepard!" Azurill shouted down. "I was aiming for Mienshao!"

Liepard shrugged indifferently and Mienshao scowled. The happy-go-lucky mouse had gotten her, of all the opponents.

 **-static-**

"BAM! HA HA!" Escavalier shouted triumphantly as she blasted Vaporeon with her rocket launcher. Vaporeon had no time to aim her cannon as she was hit head-on.

"Ow. Don't shoot so hard next time," Vaporeon said, rubbing her side. "That kind of hurt."

"HURT? PAIN IS FOR THE WEAK! YOU ARE WEEEEEAAK!" screamed Escavalier, shooting Vaporeon a few more times.

"Ow! OW! STOP IT!"

 **-static-**

 **Vaporeon was almost completely covered in pink paint. "I think I know who my least favorite Pokemon is on this island now," she groaned. "Everything hurts."**

 **-static-**

Chesnaught cautiously peeked around the side of the tree to make sure he wasn't being followed. He wandered into camp, seeing Torchic and Swinub hiding inside of a large bush as cover. He grunted and walked over to the Gastrodons' cabin. He was about to head inside when a ball of pink paint smacked into his shell.

"Huh?" he said, seeing the paint. He looked across the campsite to see Dusclops, with his sniper rifle aimed right at Chesnaught's back. Dusclops gave Chesnaught a hesitant wave. Chesnaught scowled at him and slammed the door to the Gastrodons' cabin.

"Torchic! Torchic, look! This is a perfect opportunity to test your training!" Swinub exclaimed. "Chesnaught's down, and Dusclops is right there! Go get him!"

"W-with this?" stuttered Torchic, holding a pistol in his trembling talon. "I'll m-miss the shot for sure! And then he'll g-get ME!"

Swinub shook his head confidently. "No, Torchic. You've got this. If you don't make the shot, I've got your back. With the two of us, we can't lose!"

"How are you going to shoot him with your s-spray paint?" Torchic asked doubtfully.

"I'll figure something out. Now go!"

Swinub shoved Torchic out of the bush noisily, causing Dusclops to catch sight of Torchic. He aimed his sniper rifle, but before he could shoot, Swinub charged out of the bushes, shouting loudly. Dusclops's shot hit Swinub, who shielded Torchic with his body.

"Wait, what?" Torchic yelped. "Swinub!"

"I took the hit for you! Now get him before he has another chance to get you!" Swinub said. Torchic nodded and lifted his gun. His talon squeezed the trigger…

…And Dusclops was hit by a blue paintball!

"Dude! You did it!" Swinub squealed happily. "You finally did it!"

"Y-yeah!" Torchic said, giving Swinub a genuine smile. He had finally taken out someone else in a challenge!

"Now get moving! There's still a few Milotics left!" Swinub said. Torchic took off for the woods. Swinub smiled proudly. "They grow up so fast."

 **-static-**

"THE SCORE IS TWO MILOTICS LEFT TO FIVE GASTRODONS LEFT! PICK UP THE PACE, MILOTICS!" Jirachi announced.

Minun grinned. Her team was still winning. She caught sight of Escavalier leaving the mountainous area and heading through the woods. She just had to catch Escavalier off guard and there'd only be one Milotic left!

Minun crept through the woods as quietly as she could, but she suddenly tripped. She thought she heard a laugh coming from one of the trees nearby, but she knew that was impossible.

Escavalier noticed Minun behind her and let out a cackle. "THE DEMONS OF THE FOREST ARE UPON YOU NOW!" she shouted. "ALSO, I'M GOING TO SHOOT YOU!"

Suddenly, some sort of red liquid dropped onto her head. "HM? SAUCE?" Escavalier asked. She licked some of it. "YEP. SAUCE. I'M OUT."

Beedrill waved at Minun from a tree above. "You're welcome."

"Thanks," said Minun, letting out a sigh of relief. "I ought to be more careful next time…don't know why I tripped."

"Well, don't worry about that!" Beedrill said. "There's only one Milotic left to catch, and there's five of us!"

"Yeah. Oh, and congratulations on evolving. I'm a bit jealous, actually," Minun admitted as Beedrill descended to the ground and began walking next to her, "I'll never get to evolve."

"You don't need to! You're one of our strongest teammates just as you are," Beedrill said to her. Minun blushed a bit and tried to hide it. "Evolution's not everything there is to being strong."

"I guess you're right. Come on, let's find that last Milotic!" exclaimed Minun, grabbing Beedrill by the arm and pulling him along with her.

 **-static-**

Clauncher looked around the beach. No sign of any Milotics.

 **-static-**

Lilligant looked out from the top of the tank and saw no Milotics. Content with what she'd seen, Lilligant returned to the inside of the tank and continued drinking lemonade.

 **-static-**

Torchic ran through the woods. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and pointed his pistol in that direction. "Wh-who's there?" called Torchic. His voice echoed in the woods.

"Your worst nightmare," whispered a voice behind him. Torchic screamed and took off in the opposite direction as he heard hoots of laughter behind him.

 **-static-**

"What was that screaming? Is somebody nearby?" Azurill wondered aloud, swinging through the trees using her tail. She held a bag full of paint grenades between her feet, being careful not to swing them too much.

Azurill dropped a bit lower and saw Torchic fleeing from something in the distance. Closing one of her eyes and taking aim, Azurill readied a paint grenade. She flung it with as much force as she could muster.

Azurill listened for a few seconds before hearing a satisfying splatter. She squinted and managed to make out Torchic in the distance, covered in pink paint.

"Success," Azurill said. "Four left!"

 **-static-**

Clauncher peered through the foliage. He kept watch for a few minutes before he finally saw Azurill swinging from the trees by her tail. He grinned and aimed his sniper rifle.

"Gotcha," he said, pulling the trigger. The shot barely missed, and Azurill stopped on the tree she was swinging on. She looked down and saw Clauncher.

"You won't get me that easily!" Azurill shouted, flinging a paint grenade. Clauncher ran for cover, but he was too late; the grenade exploded and covered him in pink paint.

"Uh-oh. I'm running low on these," Azurill said, realizing she only had six grenades left in her bag. "Shouldn't have flung so many at Mienshao. Yikes."

 **-static-**

"There she is!" shouted Beedrill. Azurill was hopping through the trees nearby. Minun and Beedrill stopped to confront her, but Azurill was up too high for them to hit. Beedrill noticed that his jar of Tamato sauce was practically empty.

"This one's up to you," Beedrill said. "Go get Azurill! We can win this!"

"Actually, you can fly, can't you?" Minun asked.

Beedrill began looking nervous. "Well, I just learned how to a little while ago…and I'm not sure I'm very good at it. Why?"

"If you could fly me up, I could get a better shot at Azurill," Minun said. "We could probably win if I could just get a little closer."

Beedrill hesitated for a moment but finally nodded. "Okay. Here goes nothing." He picked up Minun in his arms and began flying. His wings couldn't support both of them very well, and he fluttered off course occasionally, but he was able to get Minun closer to Azurill, who was ready for them by this time.

"Bring it!" shouted Azurill. She flung two paint grenades at Beedrill and Minun.

Beedrill swerved to the left to avoid one, but the other splashed onto his stinger, covering it in pink. Minun was still fine, however.

"Get me to that tree over there. I can take it from here," Minun said. Beedrill tossed her lightly into a nearby tree and flew towards camp.

Azurill grinned at Minun. "Win or lose, I'm impressed. You're good at this!"

Minun smiled back. "Thanks. But I know I'll win."

Azurill was about to make a retort, but Minun had already flung three darts at Azurill simultaneously. One dart painted the tree beneath Azurill, one splattered the branch next to her, and the final dart soaked Azurill in blue paint.

"Huh. Well played," said Azurill. "I guess you win after all."

"ATTENTION, CAMPERS! THE GREAT GASTRODONS HAVE OFFICIALLY WON!" Jirachi's voice rang out over the intercom. "MARVELOUS MILOTICS, YOU KNOW WHERE TO MEET TONIGHT!"

 **-static-**

Lilligant was still relaxing in her tank. "Oh, the challenge is over," she said, hearing Jirachi. "That was easy."

 **-static-**

The campers were all gathering back at camp after the challenge was over. Many of them were waiting for the showers to be empty so they could wash off the paint.

Beedrill pulled Tyranitar aside. "Okay, I've made up my mind," said the bug. "I want in with the alliance, if the offer still stands."

Tyranitar smiled. "I thought you would. I'll tell the guys as soon as I see them."

Beedrill was about to head into the cabin when Tyranitar stopped him. "And, uh, congrats on evolving!" Tyranitar said. "It's cool, isn't it? Man, just remembering back when I was a Larvitar…I've come a long way."

Beedrill waved one of his pointed arms through the air. "It is pretty cool," he agreed. "Well, I'm heading inside. See you later."

Tyranitar waved as Beedrill stepped inside the Gastrodons' cabin.

 **-static-**

 **"I'm not too worried. Even if some of my teammates want me eliminated, which I don't think they do, I did great in today's challenge! There's no way they'd vote out a power player like me!" Azurill said. "And even if they do, I can go home happy. I made some friends and did my best here. Although I'd love to leave a lot richer than I came here, ha ha!"**

 **"Well, I'm off to eat. See you later, confessional!"**

 **-static-**

The evening passed without much excitement. Nobody on the Gastrodons knew who was going home—everyone had at least _tried_ in the challenge. Mawile caught Chatot, Druddigon, and Jolteon trying to discuss something rather inconspicuously, but she couldn't make out what was being said. Scrafty and Castform looked fearful that they might be on the chopping block.

Jirachi burst into the cafeteria, where almost all of the campers were. "Milotics! Get down to the campfire pit, pronto!" Jirachi ordered. "One of you losers has spent their last night on this lovely island!"

"Lovely is not the adjective I would use to describe this island," Baltoy said dryly. Jirachi's eyes narrowed as he looked at the clay Pokemon. Baltoy either didn't notice or care.

"Anyways, you all heard me. So get moving." Jirachi floated out of the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

"Welcome one and all to the latest elimination ceremony!" announced Diancie dramatically, standing behind the wooden pedestal by the campfire pit. Jirachi levitated at her side. "Fifteen of you remain, but only fourteen will be here by the end of the night! Now vote!"

 **-static-**

 **"What the voting tonight comes down to isn't about who tried and who didn't—it's who succeeded and who didn't," Liepard said. "And…some of us failed more than others."**

 **-static-**

 **"This is a tough one," Cryogonal said. "I've got to get the target off my back and put it on someone else. Think, Cryogonal…who else did badly today?"**

 **-static-**

 **Azurill was eating marshmallows. "These taste good," she commented. "Oh, wait, I should be voting. I choose Escavalier!"**

 **-static-**

 **"Man, I sucked out there today," Scrafty groaned. "I can't blame my team if they vote me out tonight. But I can try to convince them otherwise, at the very least."**

 **-static-**

"This was a pretty close one," Jirachi said, examining the votes. "But there is a winner and a loser in the end. Let's start with the winners—first off is Azurill. I was actually majorly impressed by your performance today."

"Oh, you," Azurill said, pretending to act embarrassed. She got up and took a Pokeblock.

Diancie took over next. "Chatot, Dusclops, Mawile, Liepard," she said. Chatot seemed satisfied to be called second, while Dusclops, Mawile, and Liepard all took their Pokeblocks without a word as well.

"Baltoy and Druddigon," Diancie said. Baltoy grabbed his Pokeblock unenthusiastically and sat back down. Druddigon did the same, but gave a confident nod to Chatot. Both of them looked at Jolteon briefly. The Electric-type still didn't have a Pokeblock.

"Also safe are Noivern, Castform, Jolteon, and Cryogonal," Jirachi said. "Now we're getting to the good stuff!"

Four Pokemon remained: Scrafty, Boldore, Chandelure, and Escavalier. Scrafty was smoking nervously in the back of the crowd, while Chandelure seemed bored. Escavalier was carving her name into the stump she was sitting on. Boldore looked over at Cryogonal fearfully.

"Chandelure and Scrafty, you're both safe tonight," Jirachi said, tossing Pokeblocks to both of them. Scrafty and Chandelure eyed each other distastefully, but seemed happy that they were both staying.

"And that leaves us with you two," Jirachi said, grinning at the tension. "Boldore, your team doesn't understand you at all, and your performance today was…pretty bad. Escavalier, your team is pretty convinced by now you've got some problems—you're a wild card. So who will be tonight's loser?"

Boldore avoided any eye contact with anyone. She trembled nervously in her seat.

Escavalier muttered to herself about summoning the forest demons using sacrifices and lots of sweets.

Jirachi twirled a Pokeblock in his hand. "The last Pokeblock of the night goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

"…Escavalier."

The bug got up from her seat triumphantly and stabbed the Pokeblock. "VICTORY IS A DELICIOUS PART OF A NUTRITIOUS BREAKFAST!" she proclaimed, eating the Pokeblock.

Boldore got up dejectedly and began to walk towards the confessional. Many of the Milotics watched her leave sadly—they didn't DISLIKE Boldore, it's just that she hadn't been much use to the team.

"W-wait. Boldore."

Boldore turned around to see Cryogonal floating over to meet her. "I, uh, have something I want to say to you," Cryogonal said, swallowing nervously. "Something I was going to say this morning."

Boldore looked up at Cryogonal. "Um…we spent a lot of time together on this show, and I was wondering if maybe…after this is all over, if you'd like to go on a date with me," finished Cryogonal.

Boldore's eyes lit up and she wrapped Cryogonal in a tight embrace. Cryogonal laughed awkwardly, but his eyes gave away that he was happy. Cryogonal and Boldore smiled at each other for a few moments before Jirachi decided to rudely interrupt.

"Dock's that way," Jirachi said, pushing Cryogonal aside. "And go make your last confessional. I don't have time for this romantic nonsense!"

 **-static-**

 **Boldore awkwardly stared at the camera.**

 **Eventually, she got bored and left.**

 **-static-**

Cryogonal watched sadly as Boldore departed on her Lapras. "Bittersweet goodbye," he muttered to himself. "I get the girl and then she leaves. Way to go, me."

"Hey, cheer up, dude," Dusclops said, showing up next to Cryogonal. "At least you've got a girl that cares about you now. After this show's over with, you've got that date!"

Cryogonal looked at Dusclops and then smiled. "Yeah. I guess that's something to look forward to."

"Come on inside; we're gonna have some fun and unwind after a long day like today," said Dusclops. "I heard Noivern might even sing something tonight."

"Heh. Okay," Cryogonal said. He took one last look at the Lapras in the distance and then followed Dusclops back to camp.

 **-static-**

"Now's as good a time as any. I didn't want to go to that stupid party anyway. We shouldn't BE partying if we lost."

Baltoy continued grumbling to himself until he arrived in front of the warehouse. He floated over to the front of it and eyed the lock preventing him from entering.

"Now I've got you figured out," he muttered. "Let's see what they're hiding in here."

Baltoy focused on the lock with his mind. It trembled in his grip and then snapped open.

Baltoy chuckled darkly as the warehouse doors swung open.

* * *

Woohoo! That's chapter five out of the way! It's not the most exciting, but it's got some plot progression and romance (as well as hinted romance, the best kind!).

Note that I DID make some last minute changes to this chapter before uploading it to fix some problems. That means there might be possible gaps/oddities in the story—if you notice any, just tell me via PM/review and I'll fix it ASAP.

But what's this? Baltoy's ACTUALLY getting into the warehouse? Ohoho, he is! The drama is real!

I put some characters that were pretty important in previous chapters on the back burner for this one to emphasize some of the background characters more. I hope I did that right, but who knows.

Also, our first evolution of the series has happened—Kakuna is now Beedrill! I'm undecided on whether or not anyone else will evolve, though Kakuna was planned to evolve from the start. I've hinted at some evolutions that I might eventually do.

Got any predictions? Want to share some ideas with me? Go right ahead and hit that review button, or send your friendly neighborhood Orange a PM!

Happy (almost) April Fool's!

Boldore: *tap tap* (Translation: Review!)


	6. The Talentless Show

I Rick rolled myself for April Fool's because I had no one else to do it for me.

Seeing as I forgot to do this much earlier and I probably should have:

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Total Drama. I** _ **do**_ **own all character personalities and many ideas in this story.**

Mawile and Chandelure have received some love in the poll this time around. Go vote if you haven't already!

Here's chapter six for all you awesome people. I'm really sorry it took this long. I blame writer's block.

* * *

Mawile coughed loudly as a cloud of smoke flew into her face. "Ew…what the—oh. Scrafty."

The lizard was smoking cigarettes again just outside the Milotics' cabin. He hadn't felt like searching for the idol that morning. Mawile wrinkled her nose in disgust as she breathed in more smoke.

"Could you maybe smoke somewhere else?" Mawile called to Scrafty.

Scrafty snickered. "You sound like Druddigon," he said. But the lizard got up and began walking away from camp.

Once he was in the woods, Scrafty dropped his cigarette on the ground and stamped it out with his foot. "Seeing as I'm not welcome in camp, I suppose a little wandering around the woods can't hurt. Maybe I'll figure out how to find the key," Scrafty said to himself.

He began walking down a trail that went through the forest and out the other side, close to the tunnels. He had no intention of going near the tunnels again, but a stroll through the forest couldn't hurt.

Scrafty stopped once he heard voices, however. Carefully creeping through the foliage and making sure to be silent, Scrafty peeked through a gap between two bushes and saw three Pokemon sitting together, talking.

"I'm not telling ya that ya have ta do what I say, but I'm the one who started this alliance," Chatot was saying to a disgruntled Druddigon. "And we need to vote togethah for this ta work out. I get that you might not like Scrafty, but we should take out someone more unpredictable, like Escavaliah."

"Scrafty's just as bad as Escavalier—probably worse," argued Druddigon. Jolteon, who was sitting next to Druddigon, nodded. "What's he done for this team? Escavalier can at least do the challenges right!"

"She's unpredictable, though, Druddigon. That's the problem. I don't want any wild cards on this team," Chatot said, leaning casually against a tree. "You can tell Scrafty what ta do and he'll do it, or at least try. Ya can't control Escavaliah."

"I joined this alliance for the benefit of having Pokemon to back up my vote," Druddigon said. "Right now it seems like you're opposing my ideas, and for reasons I don't agree with. So until you realize how much you need my vote and are willing to vote with me, I'm leaving this alliance."

Druddigon stood up and walked away from Chatot and Jolteon, who exchanged bewildered looks. Scrafty shrank back behind a tree to make sure Druddigon didn't see him.

"That didn't go well," sighed Chatot. "I always figured he'd be a problem soonah or later. We'll be fine without him."

"If you say so," said Jolteon, unconvinced. "We should get back to camp. We might miss the challenge."

Chatot and Jolteon began leaving after Druddigon. Scrafty waited for a few moments to make sure he wouldn't be seen before following them.

 **-static-**

" **This gives me a lot of information to work with, at the very least," Scrafty said. "Not necessarily good information, seeing as Druddigon wants me out, but at least Chatot and Jolteon ditched him. I guess their alliance will be a lot weaker now."**

 **-static-**

" **They'll come back to me eventually and ask me to rejoin the alliance," Druddigon said, crossing his arms. "I'M the one who's going to be running the game from here on out. That's the way it was supposed to be."**

 **-static-**

" **I nevah liked Druddigon much, and now he's a threat to my alliance," Chatot said, frowning, "I thought he'd be smartah than this when I asked him ta join…but seeing as he could reveal us, I might have to take him outta the game as soon as I can."**

 **-static-**

"Come on, Torchic! BREATHE! BREATHE THE BIGGEST FLAMES YOU CAN!" shouted Swinub. Torchic gave him a quizzical look while Seviper and Frillish watched the two of them from a distance away.

Torchic took a deep breath and then exhaled a huge breath. Unfortunately, no fire came out. "Oh," Torchic said weakly. "I don't think I can d-do it."

"Sure you can, buddy! Watch," Swinub instructed. He opened his mouth and a flurry of snowflakes came out. "It just takes practice."

Torchic nodded and straightened his posture. He opened his beak again and this time, he felt different. As he exhaled, a small ember came out as well. Torchic yelped in surprise.

"I did it! I breathed fire!" Torchic shouted happily. Swinub smiled at him. "N-now I can…uh…light stuff on fire? I don't kn-know what I'd do with it, actually."

"That's okay, because I have an idea!" said Swinub. "Now that you can breathe fire…"

Swinub turned and gave Torchic a dramatic look. "…We can roast MARSHMALLOWS."

 **-static-**

"Want some marshmallows?" Azurill offered Noivern. The bat shrugged and Azurill tossed a couple marshmallows at her. "There you go. They're so puffy!"

"Marshmallows have always been puffy, Azurill," Noivern replied, popping a marshmallow into her mouth.

"I know, but now I realized how fun it is to squish them!" Azurill placed a marshmallow on her bed and slowly compressed it with her foot. "SQUIIISH. Ha ha!"

Noivern chuckled lightheartedly as Castform floated back into the cabin. "What's up?" Castform asked, flopping onto her bed.

"You haven't missed anything," Noivern said. "Other than Azurill terrorizing marshmallows."

"Boop," said Azurill, flattening another marshmallow. "You make it sound like some sort of crime, Noivern!"

Chandelure, who was in the corner, was currently being driven crazy by Escavalier, who was muttering gibberish every time she got stumped by the Rubik's cube she was trying to solve. And she got stumped A LOT.

 **-static-**

" **If she doesn't get eliminated soon, I'll eliminate her myself," said Chandelure, her eye twitching.**

 **-static-**

Tyranitar, Beedrill, Clauncher, and Reuniclus were in the cafeteria again. Chesnaught had just left the cafeteria to do some training, and Lopunny was sitting a few tables away talking to Minun. Mienshao was sitting by herself, sipping some coffee.

"You ever still wonder who's in that alliance with Minun and Lilligant?" Clauncher asked Reuniclus. "I do."

"It's not important right now, or at least it doesn't seem like it. That's only an alliance of three," Reuniclus pointed out. "And there's four of us with Beedrill."

"What's this about another alliance?" asked Beedrill, leaning closer to Reuniclus.

"A while back…maybe after the first or second challenge, I don't remember," Reuniclus began, "Minun leaked that she was part of an alliance with Lilligant and someone else. I never really looked into it."

Beedrill tapped the table with one of his spikes. "Huh. That's interesting. I wouldn't have expected either of those two to be alliance material, not that they're not good players."

"Why are you bringing that up again? You want to find out who the last alliance member is?" Tyranitar asked Clauncher.

"Yeah! It'd be kind of fun—we could make it a wager," said Clauncher, grinning. "The guy that finds out the last member of the alliance wins something. Like ten bucks, maybe."

"That seems reckless," Beedrill said.

Clauncher rolled his eyes. "It's not going to do any harm! Besides, if we DO find out who the last member of their alliance is, we can take them out and weaken the other alliance! That way, we're the strongest part of our team!"

Mienshao was eavesdropping on Clauncher's plans. Her grip on her coffee mug tightened and her jaw clenched. So those four were running an alliance, huh? At least they didn't know she was with Minun and Lilligant. She'd have to take them out before they became a problem…

 **-static-**

" **Okay, we're going back to my first target—Reuniclus," Mienshao said, making plans in her head. "He's probably the ringleader of that bunch, so taking him out is essential. The other three don't seem to know as much as he does, but Beedrill seems smart enough that he could put the pieces together. He'll be my second target."**

 **Mienshao rubbed her hands together. "Now all I have to do is give the team a reason to eliminate them. I can't take any more chances."**

 **-static-**

"You look tired."

Baltoy glanced up and saw Liepard watching him. The Psychic-type sighed in irritation. "Yeah. I didn't get much sleep."

"I didn't see you at the party last night," Liepard commented. "I even checked outside, and you weren't anywhere near the cabins."

Baltoy glared at her coldly. "Why do you care where I was?"

"No need to be so hostile," Liepard said, frowning. "I was just curious where everyone was. And I was rather surprised to find out where YOU were last night."

Baltoy froze. "You know where I was?"

Liepard laughed. "Of course I do. You didn't even cover your tracks at all—you must have been _really_ tired," she said smugly, looking at Baltoy in a way that infuriated him. "I know you were in the warehouse."

"Where's your proof?" Baltoy scoffed. "I didn't leave anything behind. You can't prove I was ever there."

"You're right. I can't," Liepard said. "That's one of the reasons I haven't told everybody where you were. The other reason is that, like I said, I'm curious—what DID you find in that warehouse?"

"Why should I tell you? You have nothing to offer me in return," snarled Baltoy.

Liepard dug her claws into the ground, frustrated. Baltoy was putting up a fight. "Because who do you think the team will believe more if I told them you broke into the warehouse—me or you? You've hardly done anything to gain their trust."

Baltoy thought about that for a moment. She had a point. "Hmph. So they'll believe you just because they like you more," he scoffed. "Well, you'll be disappointed."

"Why?" inquired Liepard.

"I didn't find much in the warehouse—I found some props for past and probably future challenges mostly. The only interesting thing I found was this." Baltoy held up what looked like a calendar. "It's a list of challenges."

Liepard's frown turned into a smile. "A list of challenges? For the whole season?"

"No—just until the merge," said Baltoy. "But it's better than nothing. Now I want your word that you'll keep this between us."

"Of course," purred Liepard. She snatched the calendar out of Baltoy's hands with her tail and walked away. Baltoy scowled.

 **-static-**

" **I wasn't expecting Liepard of all Pokemon to try something like that," Baltoy grumbled. "But she's an idiot if she thinks I really gave her everything. Sure, the challenge calendar was a good find, but that wasn't NEARLY the best thing in there."**

 **Baltoy smirked. "Right now, with the information I have, I'm the most powerful player on this island. I just need to figure out the right time to use this information."**

 **-static-**

" **It was a risky move, trying to corner Baltoy into coughing up some information," said Liepard. "But I've been biding my time long enough. I have to make some moves sooner or later or I'll end up on that Lapras eventually."**

" **Besides, I can tell Baltoy isn't a player who would take risks. He won't expose me as long as I don't expose him," Liepard said. "I've got him in a stalemate right now. As long as I don't reveal what he did, he's not going to make any sudden moves. We're both in this together."**

 **-static-**

"How you holding up today?" Dusclops asked Cryogonal, sitting down next to him. The two of them were in the male Milotics' cabin.

"Okay. I mean, I wish Boldore had been able to stay for longer," Cryogonal said. "I can't exactly bring her back to the island though. I'll just have to win the money for both of us."

Dusclops grinned. "That's the spirit! Now let's get out there before Jirachi calls a—"

"CHALLENGE TIME, FOLKS!"

"My timing is awful," muttered Dusclops.

 **-static-**

Jirachi and Diancie waited for the campers in front of the multi-purpose building again—this time, the shelves had disappeared and an enormous stage took up most of the space. The bleachers had returned, so most of the campers figured they'd be watching some sort of performance on stage.

"What's today's torture?" grunted Chesnaught.

"We decided to let you choose today, actually," Jirachi said, grinning. "Consider this your chance to shine! Today we're hosting the Pokemon Drama Island…talent show!"

"Talent show?" repeated Chatot in disbelief. "Ya mean we gotta come up with a talent ta perform on stage?"

"That's right, Chatot! We'll be judging your talents, and the talent that gets the highest score by the end of the challenge wins for their team!" Jirachi explained. "You have an hour to prepare your talent! Don't let that time go to waste."

The campers immediately dispersed and began thinking of what they could do.

 **-static-**

" **I can break somebody's arm in seven different ways," Chesnaught said. "But I doubt they'd allow that. I have to come up with something 'family friendly,' apparently."**

 **-static-**

" **I'm a really good swimmer," Vaporeon said. "But I'm performing on a stage, not in a pool. That's a bit of a dilemma."**

 **-static-**

" **I guesss this could go really well or really horribly," Seviper said, frowning. "There'sss not much you can do as a sssnake."**

 **-static-**

"Got any ideas for a talent yet?" Swinub asked Torchic, munching on some crackers.

"I c-could breathe fire like you showed me," Torchic suggested.

Swinub shrugged. "Most Fire-types can already do that though. It's not all that impressive. How about a magic trick or a song? The hosts might like that."

"I can't do m-magic," Torchic stammered.

"Well, I can! You're in luck!" Swinub said. "Let's ask the hosts if we can do a performance with both of us in it."

"Okay," Torchic replied, looking uncertain.

 **-static-**

"I don't see why not," said Jirachi after mulling over Swinub's proposal. "That way if you fail, you're both on the chopping block!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of if we succeed," Swinub said.

"Yeah, yeah, don't push your luck, kid," Jirachi said. "Go prepare your talents now, I'm getting bored here."

 **-static-**

"Think, Dusclops, what's your talent?" Dusclops muttered to himself. Suddenly, he had an idea. "I've got it! This is so cliché it might work!"

 **-static-**

Clauncher was juggling several blue balls. Two of them popped in his claws when he caught them. He sighed.

"I guess I was never meant for juggling," said Clauncher sadly. "Guess I'm back to Plan B."

 **-static-**

After roughly an hour, the campers assembled in the bleachers. The hosts had set up a table for the judges to sit at, with three purple chairs. Jirachi and Diancie each took one.

"Why are there three judging chairs?" Mawile asked.

"In case we need a tiebreaker, we have a third judge," said Jirachi. "Obviously there's Diancie and I judging, but we needed someone else! So everybody, say hello to Shiftry!"

A brown Pokemon covered in shaggy white hair appeared in the third chair as Jirachi snapped his fingers. The third judge had a pointy nose, piercing yellow eyes, and leafy hands.

"Uh, hi," said Shiftry, waving awkwardly.

"Shiftry's an old friend of mine, so he'll be filling in as the tiebreaker judge," Jirachi said.

"And now for the fun part…let the talent show begin!" exclaimed Diancie. A large banner unfolded behind her that read "POKEMON DRAMA ISLAND TALENT SHOW."

"Of course, since we let you pick your talent, that's enough niceness for one day. So we choose what order you perform in!" Jirachi said. "Our first contestant is Scrafty."

Scrafty stepped up onto stage. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Diancie watched him in confusion. "What's your talent?" she inquired.

"I can write the alphabet in smoke," Scrafty said, grinning. A few of the campers seemed disgusted while some, like Frillish and Clauncher, seemed mildly impressed.

"Go ahead," Diancie prompted him curiously. Sure enough, Scrafty was able to spell out the entire alphabet in cigarette smoke, although some of his letters appeared sloppy.

"I was impressed by the fact that you completed your talent, but it was disgusting and your handwriting was sloppy. Six out of ten," Jirachi said.

"I'm not entirely sure how to rate a talent as weird as that, so I'll give it a seven," Diancie stated.

Shiftry tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I found it interesting, if a little weird and unhealthy. Seven out of ten."

Scrafty seemed content with his score and exited the stage, joining the Milotics on the bleachers. Druddigon and Chandelure seemed thoroughly disgusted with him.

"Next up is Beedrill," Diancie said. Beedrill flew up onto the stage a bit shakily, as he was still not used to his wings, where he placed several thick wooden boards.

Beedrill turned to face the hosts. "My talent will be a demonstration of power," he said. "I will chop through these twelve wooden boards all at once."

Jirachi and Shiftry watched intently as Beedrill stepped behind the boards. He raised one of his spikes and brought it down onto the boards forcefully. The boards cracked in half and flew to the side…except the last board. Beedrill had unfortunately only cut eleven boards.

"Well, my expectations were not met," said Jirachi, eyeing the last board. "Eleven boards is not as good as twelve, my friend. Five points." Beedrill rubbed his head nervously.

"I'm still impressed by the fact that you cut eleven boards in a single hit. Not every Pokemon can say that," Diancie said, smiling at Beedrill. "Eight points."

"You were pretty good, but the fact that you didn't complete the talent makes me a bit reluctant to give you points. Six points," Shiftry decided.

Beedrill flew off stage as Jirachi looked at the score. "Right now, Scrafty is beating Beedrill by one point, somehow," Jirachi said. "Although twenty is an easy score to beat. Next is Castform."

"I don't know what went wrong," Beedrill said as he sat next to Reuniclus and Tyranitar. "I was able to cut twelve boards when I practiced."

"It's probably just your nerves acting up," Reuniclus said. "I have stage fright too. Nobody's mad at you for getting a nineteen, though. You weren't far behind Scrafty."

"Regardless, I _am_ still behind," Beedrill pointed out. "And Scrafty is not someone I want to be behind."

"You'll be fine," Tyranitar reassured the bug. "All we have to do is get one high score and we win."

"Okay, Castform, show us what you've got," Jirachi said as Castform took the stage.

Castform nodded and a large cloud suddenly appeared above her. In the span of two seconds, Castform changed the weather from heavy rain to blazing sun and then to hazardous hail. The cloud disappeared after she had finished.

"How'd I do?" Castform asked.

The judges were all hiding behind the table. Jirachi peeked out from underneath. "It was all fine and dandy until you DIRECTED THE HAIL AT US," he snapped. "Three points."

"Interesting weather effects, but predictable. And painful at the end," Diancie said, brushing some hailstones off the table. "Five points."

"Four points," said Shiftry flatly. "I didn't like the crazy weather changes."

Castfom stuck out her tongue at Shiftry and flew off stage. "Castform takes the lowest place yet with twelve points," Jirachi announced. "Next up is Reuniclus!"

The gelatinous Pokemon took the stage and cleared his throat. "Okay, so my talent is a little show of psychic powers," explained Reuniclus. "So here goes nothing."

"That's boring," Jirachi complained. Diancie gave him a glare, and Jirachi sighed in defeat. "Go on."

Reuniclus closed his eyes and suddenly a boulder from outside flew into the building through the open door. Reuniclus twirled it around and rolled it around the stage. He eventually sent it into the bleachers, weaving it between the rows of campers and setting it before the judges' table. He opened his eyes again.

"Any Psychic-type could do that. Three points," Jirachi said, clearly unimpressed.

"While most psychics could do that, you displayed clear control of your powers and didn't go overboard. Six points," Diancie said.

Shiftry shrugged. "I guess it was kinda neat. I'll give it seven."

Reuniclus smiled and floated off the stage, sitting next to Beedrill and Clauncher again.

"Azurill, you're up now," Jirachi announced. The Polka Dot Pokemon bounced onto the stage excitedly and wrapped her tail around herself.

"Okay, here's my talent!" shouted Azurill. She pulled a fairly large yellow seed out from behind her tail. "This is a Blast Seed!"

Jirachi's eyes widened. "What are you doing with tha—"

Azurill popped the seed into her mouth and jumped in the air, pointing her mouth toward the stage. Flames erupted from Azurill's mouth, and the force of the blast shot Azurill several yards in the air. Azurill came tumbling back down and bonked her head on the stage. She gave the hosts a dazed smile.

Jirachi was speechless for a moment. "Um…slightly destructive, yet awesome. Eight points."

Diancie didn't look quite as impressed. "That wasn't really a talent—you just used a Blast Seed for creative purposes. Five points."

Shiftry clapped his hands together. "That was wicked! Nine points!" exclaimed Shiftry. Azurill let out a happy shout and danced back to the bleachers.

"Azurill has taken the lead!" Jirachi announced. "Next is Tyranitar!"

The next few talents passed pretty uneventfully. Tyranitar arm-wrestled a Conkeldurr and won, earning twenty-one points. Chandelure recited an original poem and got seventeen points. Chesnaught performed a rap, though his unimpressive voice earned only a sixteen. Jolteon repeated anything the hosts could say backwards, netting twenty-three points from the impressed hosts, a new high score. Lilligant's violin solo went spectacularly, however, and she stole the high score with a twenty-four soon after.

"The Gastrodons have taken the lead for the first time yet this challenge!" Jirachi announced. "Congratulations, Lilligant, your solo was actually really impressive!"

"Thanks," said Lilligant shyly. She walked off the stage and put her violin away. Mienshao gave Lilligant an approving nod and Minun smiled at her friend.

 **-static-**

" **Lilligant was great out there! I had no idea she even played the violin!" Minun exclaimed. "Beat that, Milotics!"**

 **-static-**

" **While anyone can technically score as high as thirty, it seems to be difficult to get much more than a twenty," Mienshao said. "I think Lilligant has secured us a good lead."**

 **-static-**

"Dusclops, you're up," Jirachi announced. The ghostly Cyclops took a step up onto the stage and rubbed his hands together nervously.

"So, uh, my talent is…" Dusclops paused suspensefully. Jirachi leaned forward with interest. "…a vanishing act!"

"What?" Jirachi burst out. "Dude, you're a ghost! Any ghost can do that!"

"Yeah, but it's hard to come up with a talent!" Dusclops protested. "Besides, not everyone here can do it!"

Jirachi grumbled in dissatisfaction. "Whatever, just do it. But you're getting a one from me, pal."

Dusclops rolled his eye and turned invisible. Some campers like Noivern and Azurill thought this was pretty cool, but Chandelure and Frillish didn't seem fazed at all.

"Boo!" Frillish shouted from the bleachers. Dusclops reappeared and shot her a glare before walking off stage unhappily.

"One," said Jirachi, sounding bored. "That was basically teleporting in place."

"I'll give it a four because I'm feeling nice today," Diancie said. "Though I will say I expected a bit more."

"Three," said Shiftry, unimpressed. "Hell, Trevenant could have done that."

"Who's Trevenant?" asked Dusclops.

"Nobody. Don't worry about that," Shiftry said quickly. "Let's move on."

"Next we have Seviper," drawled Jirachi. "This better be good after Dusclops."

Dusclops grunted in annoyance as Seviper took the stage.

 **-static-**

" **Sure, maybe it wasn't the greatest talent! But he could've let it go after giving me a one," Dusclops said. "I'm hating the hosts more the longer I stay here."**

 **-static-**

Seviper stood a plastic hoop upright on the stage. Diancie raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going to do? Jump through a hoop?" joked Diancie.

Seviper groaned. "Well, I WASSS…but now that you ruined it…"

"That's not even a talent!" complained Jirachi. "Darn it, Lilligant raised my standards and I'm disappointed in all of you!"

"Well, excussse me if I don't have arms or legs to do my talent," Seviper said sarcastically. "Now I have a talent to perform."

Seviper slid through the hoop, glaring at Jirachi the whole time. Clauncher snickered and Noivern gave Seviper an approving look, despite being on the opposite team.

 **-static-**

" **Seviper's kinda defiant. I never really realized that until she had to perform solo," Noivern said. "I hope she's not mad at me for shooting her in paintball. It was just a challenge, y'know?"**

 **-static-**

"One point," Jirachi said flatly. "My expectations are beginning to drop again."

"Two points," Diancie said. "Because I'm nicer than Jirachi."

"Hey!"

"And three points," Shiftry said. "Because I can."

Seviper, seeming satisfied, slithered next to Frillish. The ghost smirked at Seviper's performance—when the serpent hadn't been able to come up with a talent, she had decided to annoy the hosts.

"Step up, Noivern!" called Diancie. Noivern grinned and flew onto the stage with a guitar in her claws. Azurill and Castform set speakers on both sides of the stage before returning to the audience.

"Are you playing or something?" Jirachi asked, frowning. Noivern nodded vigorously. "Okay, go ahead."

"Okay, here we go!" shouted Noivern. She plugged her guitar into an amplifier and then began furiously playing her guitar. Music blasted from the speakers and Shiftry fell backwards in his seat. Jirachi let out a surprised yelp at the volume of Noivern's music.

"TURN IT DOWN!" yelled Jirachi.

Noivern ended her guitar solo and finally stopped blaring her music to look down at the hosts for their reactions. "So what did you think?" she asked hopefully.

"I think I might have gone partially deaf," admitted Jirachi. "But you played well! Seven points."

"You're not half bad. I'll give you a nine," said Diancie, smiling.

Shiftry seemed impressed. "I agree with Diancie-nine points. You sure know how to rock a guitar," he added.

Noivern smiled at the hosts and flew into the bleachers with her guitar. Azurill moved over to make room for the bat.

"What did you guys think?" Noivern asked, grinning.

"You were great!" exclaimed Azurill. Castform nodded. "And you got the best score out of the three of us, so...yeah."

"I had no idea you could play the guitar," Castform commented. "I thought you were just a singer."

"Oh, I can play piano and drums too," Noivern told Castform. The Weather Pokemon looked surprised. "And the banjo. I love the banjo."

"Noivern has just taken the highest score yet with a twenty-five!" shouted Jirachi, getting the campers' attention. "The Great Gastrodons have lost their lead to the Marvelous Milotics!"

Mienshao swore. "We'll need someone good out there to ensure that we win," she muttered.

"Mienshao, you're next!"

"Damn it."

 **-static-**

" **There's a lot of things I'm good at! It's just that most of them aren't exactly the kind of thing you'd see in a talent show," Mienshao said, frowning. "I had to rely on my physical strength to get me through this one."**

 **-static-**

"What are you showing off today?" Jirachi asked as Mienshao stepped up onto the wooden stage.

"Wait and see," Mienshao said. "I'm performing alongside Minun, by the way."

"Ooh! A double performance!" Jirachi said, suddenly getting excited. "Several Pokemon asked about those, but this is the first one I get to see!"

Minun hopped up onto the stage after Mienshao. "We're going to be battling!" Minun announced.

"How's that a talent?" asked Jirachi, looking disappointed all over again.

Mienshao folded her arms. "Why don't you watch and learn?" she asked. Suddenly, she threw a punch at Minun. The electric mouse caught it, and twisted Mienshao, throwing the weasel over her head. But Mienshao landed on her feet and launched a flurry of punches at Minun. The Cheering Pokemon dodged nimbly out of the way each time.

The crowd watched in awe as the two Pokemon went at it for several minutes. Mienshao and Minun were matched in power, each of them demonstrating excellently choreographed moves. The two of them finished eventually, both panting heavily.

Tyranitar began clapping and the rest of the campers followed suit. Minun beamed at them and Mienshao smirked, trying to hide it behind her hand.

"Well, color me impressed," said Jirachi. "I'll give it a nine!"

Mienshao and Minun looked at each other in surprise-if Jirachi gave their performance a nine, Diancie and Shiftry would surely be easy to win over.

"I'm willing to give you a nine as well," said Diancie, clasping her hands together. "You two performed excellently as a team."

Shiftry kicked back in his seat, watching Mienshao and Minun coolly. "...It wasn't bad. You two are both very strong, and you demonstrated great moves, but what you lacked was any diversity. After the first few punches and kicks, it was all the same thing, just acted out to make it seem different."

Mienshao's gaze hardened and she fixed Shiftry with a glare. He watched her carefully, holding up a hand. "I'm not done yet," he said. "Despite that, there's no denying the effort that both of you put in, and your talent was done well. I'm willing to give you a nine also."

"Wait...that means we're the highest score yet!" Minun exclaimed. "We got a twenty-seven!"

"That's correct!" announced Diancie. "Minun and Mienshao have taken back the lead for the Great Gastrodons, right after the Milotics stole it! Tough luck, Milotics."

Dusclops groaned from the bleachers. "Aw, man. I have the lowest score on my team. How are we going to beat a twenty-seven?" he muttered.

"Relax. We still have some teammates who haven't gone," Cryogonal said.

Dusclops eyed the snowflake curiously. "YOU haven't gone. What even is your talent?"

Cryogonal sighed. "Don't get your hopes up-mine isn't that impressive. But we've got other teammates who might be able to pull this off."

"Chatot, you're next!" Jirachi announced. The bird tipped his hat and flew onto the stage.

Chatot pulled out a deck of cards once he reached the stage. He bent the cards in one wing and let them soar through the air into his other wing upon release. After showing off a bit, Chatot flapped over to the hosts. He fanned out the cards so they were all face down.

"Pick a card," he instructed. "Don't tell me what it is."

Diancie, looking curious, took a card. She showed it to Jirachi and Shiftry, revealing it as the queen of hearts.

"All right, hand it back now," Chatot told Diancie. The co-host handed Chatot her card, and he shuffled it back into the deck without looking at it.

The Music Note Pokemon pulled a card out of the middle of the deck and glanced at it. He flipped it so that the judges could see. "Is this your card?" he asked, showing them the ace of clubs.

"...No," said Diancie, looking disappointed. "Are you sure that you know what you're doing?"

"Are YOU sure this isn't your card?" Chatot prompted. Diancie was about to reply with an angry remark, but when she looked down, Chatot was holding the queen of hearts.

"Well played," said Jirachi. "Got any other tricks up your sleeve?"

"Check behind ya chair," Chatot said.

Jirachi glanced down at the back of his chair to see the ace of clubs there. He looked back up at Chatot, impressed. "I'm not sure how you pulled a trick off like that without cheating," Jirachi remarked, "but seeing as I liked it, I'm giving you an eight!"

"I give it a seven," Diancie said.

"Dude, you deserve a ten!" Shiftry shouted. "That card trick was AWESOME! I mean, I don't really see card tricks that often, but...yours was good!"

"Thanks," Chatot said. He walked back to the bleachers. Druddigon watched him sit next to Jolteon, glaring at both of them.

 **-static-**

" **After how well Chatot just did, and the fact that Jolteon did better than most, I know neither of them will go home tonight," Druddigon grunted. "It'll be hard to convince them that they need me like this...I've got to convince my teammates to vote for one of them somehow or make them realize they need me in order to have an effective alliance."**

 **-static-**

"Next up is Frillish!" Jirachi announced.

"I'm working with Clauncher and Vaporeon," Frillish told the judges quickly before taking the stage. Clauncher used Aqua Jet and launched himself onto the stage, with Vaporeon walking up the steps much more calmly.

"You ready?" asked Frillish.

"I was born ready," Clauncher replied, grinning roguishly.

"Just show us your talent already!" Jirachi said from below.

"Ooh, the first trio," Shiftry said, rubbing his leafy hands together. "They better be good."

Vaporeon took the center of the stage, with Clauncher to her left and Frillish to her right. Vaporeon started the show by shooting a stream of water upwards into the air. Clauncher blasted some water from his claws from her left and Frillish spewed an arch of water from the right, forming a crisscrossing arch of water.

The judges watched as Vaporeon leapt into the air, splashing through some of the water with her tail. She performed a series of mid-air flips and landed gracefully on the stage with a light thud. Clauncher and Frillish made some fancy water patterns in the background as Vaporeon continued her acrobatics.

Suddenly, one of Frillish's streams of water hit Vaporeon as she was in the air. The Bubble Jet Pokemon went tumbling down onto the stage, where her paws slipped on some of the water that had collected on the stage. Vaporeon was sent flying off the stage and crashing into the judges' stand.

Frillish gasped as Vaporeon got up, groaning. "What happened?" muttered Vaporeon.

Clauncher tapped his claws together nervously. "We might've, uh...screwed up badly."

Jirachi picked the judges' stand up telekinetically, setting it straight. He frowned at the Water-types. "You certainly screwed up badly," the host commented.

Frillish and Clauncher looked at each other nervously. "A two. I'm giving you a two," said Jirachi. "Only because the first part was impressive."

"One," commented Diancie. "Vaporeon's part was good, but Frillish messed her up and the fact that she slipped on water left behind by her teammates demonstrates the lack of thought put into preparation."

Shiftry tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I give it a two," Shiftry said. "Like Diancie said, you started off well, but that little mess up was bad. Especially because you almost crashed into us."

The Water-types all looked fearful at having the lowest score of anyone there, having even lower than Seviper.

 **-static-**

" **I didn't think we screwed up THAT badly," Vaporeon muttered, rubbing her head. "But we didn't get to finish our act thanks to that. So now we're screwed unless we win the challenge. At least we're winning."**

 **-static-**

" **I totally messed up Vaporeon on accident!" wailed Frillish. "My team's probably so mad about this! Argh! We better win or this can't end well."**

 **-static-**

"Seeing as we just had THREE Gastrodons perform, we'll do multiple performances from the Milotics," Jirachi announced. "Baltoy, you're up."

Baltoy floated up on stage, with both hands behind his back, not revealing what he was holding. The clay Pokemon faced the hosts with a bored expression.

"What have you got?" asked Jirachi.

Baltoy held up a small cube with colored tiles on each side. Each side had matching colors. "Ta-da," drawled Baltoy, showing the judges his Rubik's cube.

Jirachi looked at the cube in disbelief. "That's it? You just solved a Rubik's cube and called it a talent?"

Baltoy snorted. "I bet you've never solved a Rubik's cube, have you, genius?" he asked. "You're probably going to give me a low score just because you're salty."

"I give you a one," growled Jirachi.

"You're predictable," Baltoy said. Jirachi scoffed and folded his arms.

"Yeah, that's worthy of a one," Diancie agreed. "You didn't even show us how to solve it."

"I give it a six! I never was good at those things," Shiftry muttered.

Baltoy returned to his seat, twisting the Rubik's cube around so that the tiles didn't match. Jirachi looked at the list and called the next name. "Cryogonal, you're next."

The Crystallizing Pokemon floated up onto the stage and went behind the curtains. The judges glanced at each other curiously before returning their attention to the stage as Cryogonal wheeled out a covered object.

"What's that?" Jirachi asked.

"To display my talent, I decided to create a sculpture," Cryogonal explained, pulling the white sheet off of his work. "I hope you guys don't mind that I made it ahead of time."

The sculpture was made of ice and depicted Jirachi and Diancie below a sign reading "Pokemon Drama Island."

"Impressive! I like your style, kid," Jirachi said, grinning. "Ten points from me!"

"You're just saying that because he sculpted you," Diancie said, rolling her eyes. "I'll give it an eight. Not bad, Cryogonal."

 **-static-**

" **I knew appealing to their egos would work," Cryogonal said, looking smug.**

 **-static-**

"I'll give it a seven because it looks really good," Shiftry said. "Minus three points because I'm not in it."

"Okay by me," Cryogonal said, wheeling his sculpture off the stage.

Diancie checked her scoreboard quickly. "Despite their attempts, the Milotics have still not been able to beat Mienshao and Minun's score of twenty-seven! I hope the Milotics have something good up their sleeve."

Mawile, Escavalier, Liepard, and Druddigon all looked at each other expectantly, since they were the only four Milotics who hadn't performed.

"MINE WILL BE A REAL SHOW STOPPER," Escavalier said loudly. "AS IN THEY MIGHT STOP THE SHOW TO CALL AN AMBULANCE."

Liepard scooted further away from Escavalier.

 **-static-**

"Next we have Escavalier!" announced Diancie. "Oh, Arceus."

Escavalier flew onto the stage somehow and stabbed the ground with her lances. "TODAY I SHALL PERFORM THE MOST WONDROUS OF THINGS BEFORE YOU," Escavalier shouted. "FIRST OF ALL, I NEED A VOLUNTEER."

Nobody raised their hand. Jirachi tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. "Somebody raise their hand or I'll pick someone randomly," snapped Jirachi.

The audience remained silent. "Okay, fine," Jirachi groaned. "Baltoy, get up there. I don't like you."

"Feeling's mutual," Baltoy retorted, dreading what awaited him for being Escavalier's victim.

Escavalier yanked Baltoy up onto the stage and forcibly set him down next to her. "TODAY WE WILL BE VENTURING INSIDE THE _SOUL,"_ Escavalier began. "FIRST, WE MUST BREW A POTION USING EYE OF CHARMANDER, SLOWPOKE TAIL, YANMA WING-"

"Yeah, not happening," Jirachi interrupted. "Next."

"WHAT?! You can't just cut me off, you scoundrel!" yelled Escavalier. "I'LL FRY YOU."

"Somebody please get the psycho off the stage," Jirachi called. When nobody volunteered, Jirachi sighed and snapped his fingers, warping Escavalier and Baltoy back into the bleachers.

 **-static-**

" **Great. It's just me, Mawile, and Liepard left," Druddigon groaned. "Escavalier had to go and get herself disqualified. Brilliant."**

 **-static-**

"Next up is Torchic! And since I know he's working with Swinub, why don't both of them step up?" Jirachi prompted. Torchic and Swinub scuttled out of the bleachers and scurried onto the stage.

"We're doing a magic act!" Swinub said cheerfully. "You ready, Torchic?"

"Yep," Torchic said. Swinub smiled at him and pulled out a top hat.

"What are you going to do, pull a Buneary out of a hat?" snorted Jirachi. Lopunny rolled her eyes from her seat.

Swinub shook his head hastily. "Nope! For my first trick, I shall make Torchic...disappear!"

Swinub pulled out a black cape from behind his back and put the top hat on top of his little furry head. Swinub tossed the cape over Torchic, veiling the little chicken in a black cloth. The cape suddenly collapsed inward, and Swinub dragged it away, revealing that Torchic had indeed disappeared!

"Wow, that's a lot cooler when Swinub does it," Jirachi said, stroking his chin.

 **-static-**

" **Oh, sure, it's cool when HE does it," Dusclops grumbled.**

 **-static-**

"That was good," said Diancie, looking impressed. "But do you have anything else?"

Swinub beamed at her. "Of course I do! First I'll bring Torchic back." The little pig whistled quietly and a poof of smoke appeared next to him. When the smoke thinned, Torchic had reappeared.

 **-static-**

" **I hope the judges didn't s-see me shaking," Torchic muttered. "I get stage fright sometimes."**

 **-static-**

"For our next act, I will saw Torchic in half!" Swinub exclaimed with a dramatic flourish of his cape.

Upon hearing this, Torchic fainted on the spot. Swinub sighed.

 **-static-**

" **We were doing good up until the end," Swinub groaned. "I told Torchic beforehand that I wouldn't REALLY saw him in half."**

 **-static-**

Jirachi snickered. "Well, uh, heh. Looks like Torchic's out cold. I'll give you an eight because I thought you two did good anyway."

Diancie smiled broadly at Swinub. "Even if your tricks were cliché, your performance made it entertaining and I loved how much spirit you put into this! I give you a nine."

Shiftry shifted in his seat. "You weren't bad, little guy. I'd say you're deserving of no less than an eight," he said.

Swinub beamed at the judges and dragged the unconscious Torchic off the stage.

 **-static-**

"Only four of you left," Diancie said once the campers had finished talking among themselves. Lopunny was the only Gastrodon who hadn't performed yet, while Druddigon, Mawile, and Liepard all remained on the Milotics' side.

"We'll have two Milotics go so we can finish with a Gastrodon versus a Milotic," Jirachi decided. "So Liepard, you can go next."

The cat sighed and walked up on stage. She brought up a keyboard for her performance.

"Please don't judge me for this," Liepard said before she started.

"That's kind of our job," Jirachi pointed out. Liepard groaned and began playing a familiar tune on the keyboard.

"Wait a second...is that…" Jirachi paused, trying to recognize the tune. His eyes lit up. "Oh Arceus, that's PRICELESS! Ha ha!"

Liepard began looking embarrassed as Jirachi turned to Diancie. "She's playing the 'Keyboard Cat' song," he whispered. Diancie giggled and watched Liepard in amusement.

Once Liepard had finished, Jirachi and Diancie both smirked. "I give you an eight," Jirachi said. "And I appreciate your sense of humor."

"I'll give you a nine," said Diancie, laughing. "I can't believe you actually did that."

Shiftry snickered from his seat. "I'm not entirely sure I get the reference, but I'd hate to be a party pooper, so I'll also give you a nine!" he exclaimed.

Liepard sighed in relief.

 **-static-**

" **I was so close," Liepard said. "All I had to do was beat Mienshao and Minun's twenty-seven to have the high score...but I got twenty-six. Just my luck."**

 **-static-**

"Druddigon, step up," Jirachi requested. The Cave Pokemon lifted himself out of his seat on the bleachers and lumbered down to the stage.

Druddigon whipped out two batons once he was on the stage. He twirled them in his hands wordlessly for a few seconds. Just as Jirachi was about to complain about his talent being boring, Druddigon's mouth began to light up inside with an orange glow. Jirachi's eyes widened as Druddigon unleashed a mighty Flamethrower attack, lighting his batons on fire.

The judges and campers watched in awe as Druddigon twirled the burning batons. He waved them through the air and tossed them, catching them in the opposite hands than they had been thrown from. Druddigon held the batons close together and twirled them furiously, creating a bright, fiery pattern where they were being spun. The pattern almost looked like a infinity symbol made out of fire.

Druddigon eventually stopped, dropping his batons on the stage and quickly stomping them out to prevent the stage from catching on fire. He looked at the judges expectantly.

"I didn't know you had such a burning desire to win!" Shiftry chuckled. Diancie elbowed him in the gut. "OW! Okay, I give him a ten. Don't do that again, that hurt."

"I'll give him an eight," Diancie said. "Not overly impressive, but I liked your determination."

"And I give it a nine!" Jirachi shouted. "Meaning Druddigon _also_ has twenty-seven points! If Lopunny and Mawile can't break this tie, we might need a tiebreaker challenge!"

Mienshao frowned and watched Druddigon returning to his seat. So Druddigon was a bit more of a threat than he'd let on...hopefully Lopunny could pull off an impressive talent so the teams wouldn't have to resort to a tiebreaker.

"Let's have Lopunny go next!" Diancie decided. The bunny nodded and walked onto the stage gracefully.

"I'll be performing a dance," Lopunny stated. Jirachi nodded and Lopunny began to show off her moves. The Rabbit Pokemon gracefully leapt across the stage, executing perfect spins and pirouettes. Many of the male campers watched her intently, unable to take their eyes off of her.

When Lopunny finished, she took a bow and looked to the judges. Jirachi was watching her with a dreamy look on his face. Diancie snapped her fingers in his face. "Hey. Jirachi. FOCUS."

"Er...right," said Jirachi, scrambling to remain collected. "You were great! Clearly deserving of a ten!" he said, bobbing his head.

Diancie shook her head at Jirachi. "Well, you weren't BAD," Diancie admitted to Lopunny, "but I'd say you were more of a six, myself."

Shiftry grinned at Lopunny. "Ten. Definitely."

Lopunny smiled at Jirachi and Shiftry, but she was actually a bit worried. Diancie's low score meant that she hadn't beaten Mienshao and Minun, or Druddigon for that matter. Hopefully Mawile's performance wouldn't be that good.

"No pressure, Mawile, but you're last," Diancie said. "So your act can make your team win, or suffer through a tiebreaker."

 **-static-**

" **It was difficult to decide what I should show off as my talent," Mawile said, rubbing her arm uncertainly. "I hope my choice doesn't make me a target."**

 **-static-**

Mawile walked onto the stage, with something held in her curled up fist. Jirachi and Diancie watched as Mawile let out a deep breath.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Mawile said. She opened her fist to reveal a round stone inside. The stone was a pale pink, but there was a shiny strand of yellow and black in the center. As Mawile revealed the stone, she began to glow.

Noivern gasped in excitement. "No way," she breathed.

 **-static-**

" **I knew that some Pokemon on the island could Mega Evolve, but Mawile?!" Noivern exclaimed. "That's so awesome! I forgot that girl could even Mega Evolve at all, she's so quiet!"**

 **-static-**

Once the bright white light vanished, standing in Mawile's place was a bigger version of herself. Her body had turned to a dark shade of lavender, and two large jaws were now attached to her head instead of the usual one.

Mega Mawile cracked her knuckles menacingly. "Time to liven up the competition," she growled. She walked off the stage and slowly picked it up. The campers watched in awe as Mega Mawile hefted the stage up with one arm.

"Holy shit," said Chesnaught as Mega Mawile gripped the stage tightly and began twirling it over her head. She threw the stage across the room, where it landed with a thud.

Mega Mawile snapped her jaws menacingly and walked over to the judges. "If you want to see the full extent of my strength, I need one of you to volunteer," Mega Mawile said to Jirachi and Diancie.

Jirachi gulped and shoved Diancie forward. The Jewel Pokemon watched Mega Mawile in fear.

Mega Mawile grinned meanly and dashed forward, keeping her head in front of her. Diancie's eyes widened as she saw Mega Mawile's head begin to harden with the toughness of steel. Mega Mawile charged into Diancie, and her Iron Head attack sent the legendary flying.

Jirachi burst out laughing. "That was awesome! Especially the part where you sent Diancie flying! Ten out of ten!"

Mawile was shrinking back to her regular size as Jirachi gave her his rating. Her jaws converged into one, and her body turned back to its normal shade of yellow. Mawile watched Diancie groaning across the room.

Diancie pushed herself up and faced Mawile. "I have to say I'm surprised that somebody exploited the Mega Evolution loophole. We never actually addressed the rules regarding that," she said. "You thought outside the box, and I like that. I give you a ten."

Mawile smiled a bit sheepishly. "Uh, sorry for knocking you across the room, by the way. It's hard to keep all my power in control when I Mega Evolve," she said apologetically.

"And to keep things from getting out of hand, I'm going to set some rules regarding Mega Evolution now," said Diancie. "You're the only one who even thought of bringing a Mega Stone to the island, actually-to prevent you from abusing that power, you're not allowed to Mega Evolve for the rest of the season. That seems fair to me."

"I agree," said Jirachi. "That way everybody's on equal ground from here on out."

"Hey, don't forget about me!" Shiftry interrupted. "I have to give my rating! And I give her a ten as well. Your idea was unexpected and, to be blunt, absolutely awesome to see. I think you were the best performance out of all of these."

Mawile smiled shyly and walked back to the bleachers, where the Milotics were cheering for her. She had earned a perfect score of thirty, winning the challenge for the Milotics.

"And since Mawile won the challenge with the highest score, the Gastrodons are going to the elimination!" announced Jirachi. "So prepare your votes, Gastrodons!"

 **-static-**

" **It sucks a bit that I can't use my Mega Evolution for the rest of the show," sighed Mawile. "But after what I did for the team, I should be safe for a while. That's what matters on a show like this."**

 **-static-**

The Great Gastrodons were gathered at the campfire pit. They had eaten dinner later than usual, much to Swinub's dismay, and they had gone straight to the elimination ceremony afterward.

Jirachi and Diancie were awaiting them there. "Okay, everyone. Time to vote," announced Jirachi. "You probably know the drill by now."

 **-static-**

" **It was a tough choice, picking someone to vote out tonight," Reuniclus said. "Everyone at least made an attempt this time. I talked with Tyranitar before, and we agreed not to vote out Minun or Lilligant-we might be able to get information out of them somehow. So we made a choice based on who did the worst tonight."**

 **-static-**

"The votes have been tallied," said Jirachi as Seviper got out of the confessional, having placed the last vote. "And we're ready to pick the next loser! When I call your name, come up and get a Pokeblock. Mienshao."

The weasel smirked confidently and walked up to claim her Pokeblock. She sat down next to Minun and Lilligant afterward. "Minun is also safe," continued Jirachi. "And Lopunny, you're good."

Minun and Lopunny exchanged a smile and took their Pokeblocks. "Tyranitar, you're safe," Jirachi called. "Swinub, Lilligant, and Torchic are as well."

Tyranitar took his Pokeblock and gave a brief nod to Reuniclus. Lilligant took hers quickly and returned to her seat by Mienshao. Swinub smiled at Torchic, who was sighing in relief.

"Beedrill, you're safe tonight," Jirachi stated. The bee Pokemon stood up confidently and gently stabbed his Pokeblock with one of his needle arms.

"These things are still so cool," Beedrill commented, looking at his arms.

Jirachi gave him a weird look. "Yeah, uh, whatever. Seviper, your team likes you enough to keep you around as well."

The serpent snatched up her Pokeblock and returned to her seat. Now only five remained: Chesnaught, Frillish, Clauncher, Vaporeon, and Reuniclus.

"Vaporeon, you are safe," Jirachi announced. The Bubble Jet Pokemon sprang to her feet and took her Pokeblock eagerly.

Frillish and Clauncher exchanged a look-they were probably in the final four because they had messed Vaporeon up. Chesnaught looked confused, as did Reuniclus.

"Chesnaught and Reuniclus, lighten up. You're both safe tonight," Jirachi said, tossing them each a Pokeblock. Chesnaught grunted in response and ate his, while Reuniclus glanced at Clauncher in worry.

"You guys aren't going to send me home over a simple mess up, are you?" asked Clauncher, sounding panicked.

Frillish was trembling in her seat. "It's you or me, Clauncher, and quite frankly I hope it's you who goes home," she muttered. Clauncher shot her a look.

Mienshao's eyes narrowed. Her alliance had voted for Clauncher...eliminating him would remove an obstacle by weakening Reuniclus' alliance.

"This last Pokeblock goes to…" Jirachi paused suspensefully, holding the Pokeblock up.

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Clauncher," finished Jirachi, tossing it to the crustacean. Clauncher let out an audible sigh of relief, while Frillish appeared to deflate on the spot.

"Come on, guys! It was an accident!" protested Frillish.

"We can't afford accidents," said Mienshao coldly. Several campers looked at her strangely. Frillish frowned and floated to the confessional.

 **-static-**

" **To be honest, I don't know why they picked me over Clauncher. I guess I just got the short end of the stick," Frillish muttered. "If I have to pick someone to win, Seviper's my first choice. She's got the guts to does whatever gets thrown at her, and the brains to get it done."**

 **The ghost Pokemon looked up at the camera. "But you know what? I didn't have a bad time here. I made a few friends, and even if I'm not any richer, I had a good experience. Maybe I'll get another go some time," she said with a smile. "But this is goodbye for now."**

 **-static-**

The Great Gastrodons watched as Frillish boarded her boat and left the island. Clauncher was still a bit worked up after his near-elimination experience. Reuniclus patted him on the back.

"That was a close one, wasn't it?" Reuniclus asked. Clauncher just nodded. "You've got to be more careful, man. We can't lose alliance members this quickly or we _all_ go down."

"Yeah, I know," Clauncher muttered. "I wonder who's the leader of Minun and Lilligant's alliance, though. We never found out."

"Give it some time," Beedrill said, flying over. "I doubt they're going to just admit to it. We have to play our cards carefully."

From across the dock, Mienshao's eyes narrowed.

 **-static-**

"Keyboard Cat? Really?" laughed Castform as Liepard entered the Milotics' cabin. "Wow. Just...wow."

"Shut up," growled Liepard. "In case you didn't notice, I was the one with the higher score today."

Castform raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying my talent wasn't good enough?"

"Yes, that's what I'm saying," said Liepard, rolling her eyes. "Now stop bothering me."

Castform stuck out her tongue and made a raincloud appear over Liepard's bed.

"What the-water? How did this even-CASTFORM, MAKE IT STOP RAINING."

"Who's more talented now, Keyboard Cat?"

Liepard groaned and covered her head with a magazine. "Why me."

* * *

This ended up being the second longest chapter yet. I don't know how, but...man, this took forever to write.

Once again, I'm REALLY sorry about the delay. I hit a rough patch in writing, but I think I managed to make a decent chapter anyway.

Frillish has left the island! I was okay with her character, but she wasn't serving much role in the plot or in any alliance, so there was no need to keep her.

If you liked what you read, smash that review button and/or send me a PM with your thoughts!

Frillish: Yes, please review! Reviews fuel this story!


	7. The Great Island Race

I have two things to mention before I start:

\- The number of characters you can vote for in the poll has been increased from two to three. Happy voting, folks.

\- Expect updates once or twice monthly. I can't keep pumping out chapters like I did in the beginning, but I think this will be a comfortable and reasonable pace.

With the updated poll, we have new votes! Here are the current standings:

\- Chandelure is the most popular character, with 2 votes.

\- Cryogonal, Swinub, Baltoy, Noivern, Escavalier, Mawile, and Seviper each have 1 vote.

If you haven't voted, you still can! Don't be shy.

Without further ado, here's another chapter just for you!

* * *

Many of the campers were in the cafeteria eating breakfast. Lopunny, Vaporeon, and Minun were sitting together at a table.

"I wish Frillish hadn't gotten voted out," Minun said, prodding her food with a fork. "She was pretty cool in my book."

"I'm just glad it was her instead of me," Vaporeon admitted. "It was a relief to be safe last time...although I agree that Frillish wasn't so bad."

"What do you think Jirachi's going to make us do today?" asked Minun. "The talent show sort of came out of the blue."

"Hopefully it's a physical challenge. I'm best at those," Lopunny said.

"You did pretty good when we were fighting Baltoy and Noivern," chuckled Minun. "Remind me to never get in a fight with you."

Minun looked past Lopunny and saw Lilligant waving to her. "I think Lilligant wants to talk to me," Minun said. "I'll see you guys later."

Minun got up and walked over to Lilligant, and the two of them left the cafeteria, leaving Lopunny and Vaporeon at their table alone.

Vaporeon watched as Jolteon sat down next to Chatot a few tables away. "Just out of curiosity...I hope you don't mind me asking, but do you have a boyfriend back at home?" Vaporeon asked Lopunny.

Lopunny looked a bit flustered. "I'm, uh...not into guys," she admitted.

Vaporeon stared blankly at Lopunny. "Oh."

 **-static-**

" **Of all the Pokemon on the island, I didn't expect Lopunny to be gay," Vaporeon said, still looking a bit shocked. "I don't have anything against it, but it's a bit of a surprise."**

 **-static-**

Lopunny awkwardly returned her gaze to Vaporeon. "Do you have one? A boyfriend, I mean?" she asked timidly.

Vaporeon shook her head. "Not anymore. I dated a Houndour a few years back, but he was a jerk. I broke up with him in a matter of days."

Lopunny laughed softly. "Well, there's plenty of opportunities here," she said, smiling.

 **-static-**

Scrafty was returning from the woods when he saw Mawile sitting outside the cabin. She was staring at the round Mawilite in her hand.

"Whatcha got there?" Scrafty asked, sitting next to her. Mawile seemed startled at Scrafty's appearance, as if she hadn't seen him coming.

"It's nothing," Mawile mumbled, putting the Mawilite away. "I was just wondering if I should have saved my Mega Evolution for a better time, now that I'm not allowed to use it again."

"Hey, you won the challenge for us! I think you used it at the right time," Scrafty said. "Besides, if you used it after the merge, I think you'd have a lot of folks targeting you."

"You're right, I suppose," Mawile agreed. She looked at Scrafty. "You seem to know more about this game than you've been letting on."

Scrafty scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, not really...just watched a few similar shows, that's all."

"So you've at least got some plans, don't you?" Mawile asked, fixing her eyes on Scrafty, who seemed to be fidgeting nervously.

"Well, I guess I-wait, hold on a sec," Scrafty said. Chatot and Jolteon had just left the cafeteria and were walking toward the woods.

"What?" asked Mawile, looking confused. She glanced behind her and saw Chatot leading Jolteon into the forest. "What are those two doing?"

"Follow me and you'll find out," said Scrafty, grinning mischievously. Mawile rolled her eyes, but she got up to follow Scrafty.

As the two of them entered the woods, Mawile spoke up. "Do you know what those two are doing?"

"I saw them go into the woods before. I followed them and ended up finding out some valuable information," Scrafty responded. "Just trust me on this one."

Scrafty and Mawile stopped abruptly, hiding behind some bushes as Jolteon and Chatot sat down together in a well hidden clearing. Several logs were gathered there, and Jolteon and Chatot were each sitting on one.

"Are you sure nobody was following us? I could have sworn I saw some bushes rustling," Jolteon said in a worried tone, eating noisily out of a bag of chips.

"I doubt it. Ya shouldn't worry about things like that so much, though-we gotta discuss how we're gonna deal with Druddigon," Chatot said, tapping his beak. He leaned back against a tree, and his hat tipped downward, covering his eyes. "Think we should try ta eliminate 'im, or should we focus on somebody else?"

"I don't really want to target anybody, to be honest," Jolteon replied.

Chatot sighed irritably and fixed Jolteon with a stern look. "See, that's the problem! Ya HAVE ta pick who ya want to go home or it might be you! Ya can't expect ta breeze through the game without gettin' ya hands dirty, Jolteon."

Jolteon shrank back. "Yeah, you're right," the Electric-type mumbled. "So who's it going to be?"

"I'd say Druddigon," Chatot repeated. "He's a traitah. I don't know what the guy's problem is, but if he can't deal with us makin' our own votes, then he's a liability. And he's a liability that knows about our alliance, meaning he needs to go pronto."

Jolteon sighed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right again. I'll help you vote."

Behind the bushes, Scrafty looked at Mawile, who was watching Jolteon and Chatot with intense curiosity.

 **-static-**

" **An alliance on the team, huh?" Mawile said to herself. "I had no idea anyone was voting together. Chatot and Jolteon working together surprises me, and it appears that they used to be working with Druddigon."**

 **Mawile tilted her head thoughtfully. "Maybe I should make an alliance of my own."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon and Chatot left the clearing, and Mawile and Scrafty ducked back to avoid being seen. Once Chatot and Jolteon were out of sight, Scrafty let out a relieved breath.

"So what do you think?" Scrafty asked, looking at Mawile.

"I think that Chatot's got more power than I originally thought," Mawile admitted. "Getting Jolteon on his side was a smart move. But I don't think we should worry about their alliance yet; Druddigon seems to be causing them enough issues for now. We should worry about bigger groups, like Azurill, Noivern, and Castform."

"What's all this 'we' talk?" asked Scrafty.

Mawile gave Scrafty a small smile and held out a hand. "I'd like an alliance. Do we have a deal?"

Scrafty stared at her in surprise before shaking her hand. "You've got a deal," he said. The lizard pulled a cigarette out and lit it with his lighter.

Mawile coughed as smoke flew into her face. "Please stop smoking," she said in disgust.

"Sorry, it's a package deal."

 **-static-**

Azurill was hanging off of her bed upside down, watching Escavalier carve intricate designs into the wooden interior of the cabin. "Whatcha doin'?" she asked casually.

Escavalier whirled to face the Polka Dot Pokemon. "Certainly not planning the demise of every other player on this team!" Escavalier hissed quickly. "That would be quite DEVIOUS, ehehe!"

Azurill lightly tossed a marshmallow at Escavalier. "Boop."

"WHY, YOU SCOUNDREL!" Escavalier shouted.

Azurill giggled as Noivern walked into the cabin and threw her banjo on her bed. "What's gotten into Escavalier?" Noivern whispered to Azurill.

"I'm messing with her," said Azurill mischievously.

"I'll tape your eyeballs open and light something on fire," Escavalier murmured, her eye twitching.

Noivern cast a worried glance at Escavalier and frowned at Azurill. "I don't think she's taking it too well."

 **-static-**

" **SHE SHALL RUE THE DAY SHE FLUNG A DELICIOUS GELATINOUS TREAT AT ME!" Escavalier vowed.**

 **-static-**

Swinub and Torchic were out in the middle of camp training. Seviper watched from inside the Gastrodons' cabin.

"Yeah! That's the trick!" Swinub shouted encouragingly as several embers flew into the targets Swinub had set up. "You hit all but one this time!"

Torchic wiped off a few beads of sweat. "This isn't...so bad. How much longer do you think it'll take for me to evolve?" Torchic asked Swinub.

Swinub munched some crispy cookies thoughtfully. "Probably a few weeks, tops," Swinub said. "And if you keep going at this pace, probably less!"

Torchic sighed in relief. "That's a relief. I'm getting a bit tired of all these workouts every day."

"I didn't say evolution was easy," Swinub reminded him. "Heck, I never even evolved yet!"

"Do you want to evolve?" Torchic inquired.

Swinub shrugged after a few seconds. "I don't know. My brothers both evolved, and they seem happy...but I never thought about if it was right for me."

"You have brothers?" asked Torchic. "I never knew that."

"Yep! Two of them, but I'm the youngest," Swinub said. "I signed up for this show to prove that I'm not the weakest just because I'm the youngest! Oh, and also to win a lot of money, of course."

Torchic smiled at his friend. "W-well, you've proven to me that you're not weak! Maybe we could have a battle to see who's the strongest between us?"

Swinub chuckled. "Is that a challenge?"

"I-is it?" Torchic asked hesitantly.

Swinub snickered lightheartedly. "Let's not worry about that. Maybe after the challenge we can have a battle, but we should save our energy for now."

"Okay," Torchic agreed. The two of them headed back inside the male Gastrodons' cabin. Seviper slumped against the wall of her own cabin in boredom.

 **-static-**

" **Thisss sssucks," Seviper groaned. "Frillisssh was my only friend here besssidesss Beedrill...and he's been hanging out with Minun an awful lot. Ssso now I'm alone."**

 **-static-**

"So, uh...when are you thinking the next challenge will be?" Dusclops asked Cryogonal as they played a game of cards.

"Today, if the pattern remains consistent," Cryogonal said, playing a jack of spades. Dusclops frowned.

He played the king of hearts in return. "Any idea what challenge it'll be, then?" Dusclops asked. "Because I haven't seen any pattern in what challenges they give."

"There most likely isn't a pattern," Cryogonal replied. "I don't think anybody knows what the challenge will be."

Nearby, Baltoy held up his book to hide his smirk. Behind the book, he was actually reading from the stolen challenge calendar.

 **-static-**

" **They couldn't be more wrong," Baltoy chuckled. "I know EXACTLY what is going to happen until the merge. Unfortunately, so does Liepard, but she'll get what's coming to her eventually."**

 **-static-**

"Uh, listen, I've been thinking about an idea for some time now," Dusclops muttered to Cryogonal so nobody else in the cabin could hear. "We're friends, right? Kind of like an alliance?"

Cryogonal raised an eyebrow. "Alliance? When did this happen?"

"Not really an alliance, per se, but you get the idea," said Dusclops, waving his hands around carelessly. "We work together well. And I had the idea that maybe we should try recruiting somebody else."

"You want us to form an alliance...and you want someone else in it?" asked Cryogonal skeptically. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Don't knock it until you try it," Dusclops joked. "But yeah, that's the idea. Follow me and we'll ask her if she's in."

"You didn't ask me if _I_ was in!" Cryogonal protested.

Dusclops rolled his eye. "Are you?"

Cryogonal sighed. "I don't think I have much choice, so yes, I'm in. Now this better be a good idea, Dusclops."

 **-static-**

" **Sometimes Dusclops gets way ahead of himself," Cryogonal sighed. "I mean, I don't even know if an alliance between two Pokemon is a good idea, but there he goes, inviting another Pokemon already…"**

 **-static-**

Chandelure glanced up from her novel to see Dusclops standing a few feet away. Cryogonal was further back, watching Dusclops doubtfully.

"Uh...hi," Dusclops said awkwardly to Chandelure.

Chandelure didn't even blink. "What do you want?"

"Um, Cryogonal and I formed a team here, you see," Dusclops began, "and after we worked together a few challenges back, I thought-"

"I'm not interested," Chandelure interrupted. Dusclops looked taken aback by her bluntness. "Look, I'm not trying to be rude, but alliances are only targets later on. I'm playing the game the smart way, and I advise you to do the same."

"You mean going solo is the best way?" Dusclops asked. "That seems counterintuitive."

"Don't take my word for it-do the math yourself," Chandelure suggested. "Two votes seem more threatening than one, especially after only a few players remain. Don't try to fool yourself into thinking an alliance is a good idea; only one Pokemon wins, after all."

Dusclops frowned. "Okay, you have some valid points," he admitted. "But think about it, okay? Cryogonal and I aren't bad players, and it wouldn't kill you to make some friends while you're here."

"What makes you think I don't have friends?" snapped Chandelure.

Dusclops held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that you don't seem to be too close with anyone here," he explained. "And it might help _you_ to make some friends so you don't get voted out."

Dusclops turned and walked away to the cabin. Cryogonal cast one last glance at Chandelure before following the Ghost-type.

Chandelure's eyes narrowed, and she pulled out the list of her plans for the game. Taking out a pencil, Chandelure scribbled out a name at the top of the list and wrote " _Dusclops"_ in its place.

From the bushes, Druddigon chuckled darkly to himself.

 **-static-**

" **Luckily for me, subtlety isn't exactly Dusclops' strong suit-if I can get the team to vote off someone from his alliance or Chatot's because they're threats, then I'm safe for another few rounds," Druddigon said, writing his plans on a notepad. "It'll be harder to get Chatot or Jolteon voted off, though-nobody has proof of their alliance except me."**

 **-static-**

"So what did you want to talk about?" Minun asked Lilligant as they two of them walked through camp.

Lilligant shrugged. "Mienshao wants to discuss something, but I don't know what. She wanted to meet with us in the woods now or after the challenge, if we get interrupted."

"Oh, that's right! We have a challenge today," Minun recalled. "It shouldn't start for a little while, though."

As Lilligant and Minun were on their way to the woods, Beedrill and Tyranitar emerged from the Gastrodons' cabin. Beedrill turned and saw Minun and waved to her.

"Oh! Hey, Beedrill!" called Minun, running over to him. "What's up?"

The Bug-type grinned at her. "I was going to go train with Tyranitar for a bit, but that can wait, if you want," he said.

Tyranitar opened his mouth to say something, but Minun was already speaking again. "Hey, want to go to the beach or something? That would be fun!" she suggested. Beedrill nodded and flew after her as she took off for the beach.

 **-static-**

" **Apparently Beedrill and Minun are an item now. It just happened yesterday, or so I hear," Tyranitar said, folding his arms. "I'm not against it, but I think Beedrill is losing his focus on the game now that he's with Minun. He better be careful."**

 **-static-**

Lilligant awkwardly rubbed her arm. "There go our meeting plans…"

Tyranitar smiled at the plant Pokemon. "You're still meeting with Minun, huh?" he asked. "How's that going for you?"

"You know about the alliance?" Lilligant gasped. She regained her composure quickly. "I'm not surprised, actually. You are friends with Reuniclus, after all." She paused for a moment, debating whether or not to trust Tyranitar; he didn't SEEM like a bad guy. "The alliance is going well, but I don't think I should talk about it in public," she told Tyranitar.

"That's okay, I get it," Tyranitar said understandingly. "I guess I won't be training with Beedrill now that those two are running off together."

"Training? But aren't you a pacifist?" Lilligant asked him.

Tyranitar smiled. "Yes, I am. But I've been practicing self-defense techniques for a long time, and I'm teaching Beedrill."

"Oh," said Lilligant. "That's nice of you."

Tyranitar was about to reply to Lilligant when the intercom blared to life. "CAMPERS, MEET US ON THE BEACH!" shouted Jirachi.

 **-static-**

The campers all gathered around Jirachi and Diancie on the beach. Jirachi cleared his throat before speaking. "So! As you should all know well by now, it is time for a challenge," Jirachi stated.

"So what's it gonna be?" Chatot asked, speaking up.

"I'm so glad you asked! Today, we are hosting the Great Island Race!" shouted Jirachi. A banner unfolded behind him that read "GREAT ISLAND RACE" in big red letters.

"Let me guesss, we're racing?" asked Seviper sarcastically.

"You are indeed racing!" Jirachi confirmed. "And races are simple enough that I shouldn't have to do much explaining, which is great! So, first of all, the first Pokemon to cross the finish line wins for their team! To make this fair, there will be no teleporting."

"There goes that plan," grumbled Baltoy.

Jirachi smirked at the disgruntled Ground-type. "No getting off the hook that easy this time, Baltoy! Anyways, I WILL allow a few dirty moves during this challenge-you're allowed to attack other players, meaning you can sabotage the other team!"

"Of course, you don't want to focus too much on sabotaging to the point where you lose the lead," Diancie added. "So balance your tactics carefully."

"You will be racing around the island in today's challenge! Yes, that means the entire thing," Jirachi said, watching Castform's expression of disbelief. "It's not THAT big for an island. And since you campers have many different methods of travel, you can choose to travel by land, water, or by sky!"

"If you choose to fly around the island, you're not allowed to just cut across the whole thing to save time," Diancie added. "That means no taking shortcuts, Noivern and Chatot."

The Flying-types rolled their eyes and waited for the hosts to finish the instructions. "Oh, and one more thing," said Jirachi, smiling darkly. "There are some... _traps_ we've set. So watch your step."

The campers looked at one another uneasily.

 **-static-**

" **Setting trapsss for us isss definitely not legal," groaned Seviper. "But what can I do about it here?"**

 **-static-**

" **Sometimes I wonder how Jirachi gets the producers to allow him to do this crazy stuff," muttered Beedrill. "Actually, I've been wondering that since the cliff dive."**

 **-static-**

"On your marks, get set, GO!" shouted Diancie, waving a checkered flag. The campers took off across the beach as soon as the race began. Clauncher and Vaporeon dove into the water and began swimming more quickly alongside the sand. Lopunny, Liepard, Chesnaught, Mienshao, and Jolteon were among the fastest on land. Up in the air, Noivern easily passed Chatot, and Chandelure, Cryogonal, and Castform lagged far behind.

"This is too easy," Chesnaught growled, dashing across the sand past Lopunny. "I'm one of the strongest competitors in the show. How do they expect to stop me?"

Chesnaught's question was answered in a massive explosion. Sand shot up from the beach and rained down on the other campers as Chesnaught was sent flying into the air. The Grass-type athlete hit the beach with a dull thud.

"WATCH OUT FOR LAND MINES!" cackled Jirachi, slapping his knee. Diancie watched him disapprovingly.

Liepard rubbed some sand out of her eyes and continued running. "Yikes," she muttered, looking back at Chesnaught. "Poor guy."

The Spiny Armor Pokemon was struggling to get up. Eventually, he got to his feet, but he had lost several places; he was now near Dusclops, Reuniclus, and Swinub in terms of placement.

"DAMN IT," snarled Chesnaught. He began limping quickly after the others.

 **-static-**

"Where were you and Minun this morning?" Mienshao hissed at Lilligant, falling behind the others a bit to talk with her.

"We were on our way when the challenge started," Lilligant said, trying to think of a reasonable excuse.

Mienshao shook her head in irritation. "Whatever. Anyways, we can't waste time in this challenge-we should take out a few strong competitors on the Milotics so we don't lose."

"You actually want to sabotage them?" gasped Lilligant.

"It's the easiest way to win, Lilligant. You know that," Mienshao said, frowning. "Now are you with me or not?"

Lilligant hesitated for a few seconds before nodding her head slowly. Mienshao smirking and began chasing after Jolteon, hoping to trip him up.

 **-static-**

" **I'm starting to question whether or not I picked the right side," Lilligant murmured. "Mienshao didn't seem so bad, but she...doesn't really seem to care what happens to anyone here as long as she wins. Maybe not even me."**

 **-static-**

Mawile was running just ahead of Torchic. She knew that the little guy wouldn't try to attack her, even if he had the type advantage; he was too easily scared. She sprinted forward confidently, but skidded to a halt as she noticed a bulge in the ground.

Mawile stepped back and sent a gusting Fairy Wind at the land mine. It exploded in a shower of sand, which blew back and got in Torchic's eyes. The Chick Pokemon coughed loudly and tried to rub the sand out of his face. Mawile took advantage of this and ran ahead of Torchic.

 **-static-**

Scrafty was running near the end of the group near Swinub and Reuniclus. Both of them were on the other team, so Scrafty figured they probably wouldn't make for any interesting conversation. Scrafty sighed and slowed down from the effort of running.

"NO SLOWING DOWN! WE'RE ON THE ONE-WAY ROAD TO WINNER TOWN, LIZARD BOY!" Escavalier shouted, ramming into Scrafty and barreling forward with unstoppable momentum. She crashed through Reuniclus and Swinub, sending them flying into the water, and sped off into the distance, carrying a screaming Scrafty the whole way.

 **-static-**

" **Note to self: never stand in the way of a crazy bug trying to win a race," said a bruised Scrafty.**

 **-static-**

Lopunny and Liepard were competing for first place, with Liepard slightly in the lead. Liepard noticed that the stretch of sandy beach was drawing to an end as the beach met with the forest. Liepard smirked and dashed into the woods, knowing that the tricky terrain would trip up some of the other campers.

Lopunny had to slow her pace as she entered the forest; not only was it more difficult to navigate around all the roots and low-hanging vines, but Lopunny figured that if land mines were on the beach, the forest had to have some traps as well. Lopunny swatted a few vines aside as she ran, but eventually she heard a click and noticed the tripwire she had just set off.

Arrows flew out of two holes in the trees beside Lopunny. She ducked, and the arrows all buried themselves in the tree trunks. Lopunny sighed in relief.

 **-static-**

" **Looking back on it, I could probably sue the hosts for shooting arrows at me," Lopunny said. "But I get the feeling they'd weasel their way out of it somehow."**

 **-static-**

Baltoy floated at the back of the group. He watched Dusclops disappear into the distance, leaving him in last place.

"Yep. Not even gonna try anymore," Baltoy sighed, collapsing in the sand.

 **-static-**

"Bet I can fly faster than you!" Noivern taunted Chatot as she flew.

"I doubt that," Chatot said. "But seein' as we're in a race, I don't see why we can't find out!" He took off suddenly, shooting past Noivern.

"Hey, you got a head start!" Noivern called after him, trying to catch up.

Chandelure, Cryogonal, and Castform were all levitating rather far behind the other contestants in the air. "Either of you two have a plan to get us ahead?" Chandelure asked, glancing back.

"Nope. I got nothing," Castform said. "If I did, I would have ditched you guys by now. No offense."

Cryogonal frowned, watching Noivern and Chatot slowly fade into the distance. "They're way too far ahead by now," he commented. "We'll have to rely on Noivern and Chatot or the ones on land."

"What about the ones in the water?" Castform asked.

Cryogonal raised an eyebrow. "All the Water-types are on the other team."

"Oh yeah," Castform realized. "Wow, I'm stupid."

 **-static-**

"I wonder if they put any traps in the water," Clauncher said to Vaporeon as they swam underwater. They both remained close to the shore to save time in the race, but they were in their element when they were underwater.

"It wouldn't shock me. There were tripwires in the _lake_ of all places back in the first challenge," Vaporeon told him. "And I wouldn't put it past Jirachi to do something like that."

Clauncher nodded and continued swimming along. "I guess we'll just have to be extra careful," Clauncher said. Suddenly, a geyser blasted water up out of nowhere, shooting Clauncher into the air.

"Me and my big mouth," Clauncher groaned as he splashed into the water again.

 **-static-**

Tyranitar crashed through several bushes as he entered the forest. He barreled forward at a speed impressive for one of his size.

Tyranitar looked over his shoulder and saw nobody. Good; he was alone. That meant he wouldn't have to fight anybody to get a higher place in the race.

Suddenly, he was smacked in the face by a blue tail. He heard girlish giggling and looked to see Azurill swinging from the trees above Tyranitar. "Heya!" she called, grinning from ear to ear.

"You know we're supposed to attack each other, right?" Tyranitar asked, trying to keep up with Azurill.

"Yeah, but you won't fight back! And that's no fun," Azurill explained, doing a wild flip in the air and catching herself by the tail. "I have standards, you see."

"Oh, by the way, you're about to hit a tree," Tyranitar warned her a bit too late. Azurill smacked into a thick tree face first as Tyranitar ran past, looking back guiltily.

"Well played, Mr. Dino," Azurill muttered.

 **-static-**

Jolteon carefully dodged back and forth through the trees, making sure to avoid tripping over any protruding roots or getting tangled in prickly bushes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of movement. He jerked his head to the side, but saw nothing.

Then from above, he was knocked to the ground as a figure slammed into him. Jolteon tried to turn his head to determine the assailant, but a fist slammed into his head, knocking him unconscious.

Mienshao stood up and made sure nobody had seen her take out Jolteon. Once she was certain that she was alone, she rolled Jolteon behind some overgrown bushes so he wouldn't be seen.

As Mienshao began running along once more, Druddigon stepped out from behind a tree and eyed Mienshao's retreating figure curiously.

 **-static-**

" **So she's a saboteur, eh?" Druddigon muttered, rubbing his head in thought. "Never would've pinned Mienshao as the type to play dirty, but clearly she's a threat."**

 **Druddigon cracked his knuckles menacingly before glaring at the camera. "I won't expose her, though. Not yet. In a game like this, it's good to have...leverage."**

 **-static-**

Lilligant followed Seviper as the snake navigated between trees. Eventually, the two of them reached the end of the forest; the scenery opened up and revealed a vast mountain ahead.

"Mountains? That'sss gonna be tricky," Seviper said. "It'sss hard to ssscale those."

Lilligant smiled kindly at the Poison-type. "You helped me get through the forest; it's time I repay the favor," she said. Lilligant picked Seviper up with some effort and began carrying her up the steep side of the mountain.

 **-static-**

" **Lilligant'sss one tough gal. I never would've thought she'd be able to climb up a mountain by herssself, much lesss with me," Seviper remarked.**

 **-static-**

"This challenge sucks," complained Dusclops. "I'm probably in dead last or something."

"At least we're in dead last together!" Swinub said cheerfully. Dusclops couldn't help but smile.

Suddenly, Dusclops noticed something on the horizon. "Hey, is that...a mountain?" he asked, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand. "Oh man, how are we supposed to get over that?"

"By working together!" suggested Swinub. "I can dig a path through the mountain so we don't have to climb it! And then we can get to the finish line together."

"Speaking of which, when do we reach the finish line? It seems like going around the island is taking forever," Dusclops said.

"It shouldn't be much longer," said Swinub, trying to calculate their position on the island in his head. "Hm...we're probably over halfway, since we passed through the forest."

"Awesome!" Dusclops said. "You know what? You're a pretty cool guy, Swinub."

"Oh, you," said Swinub, blushing. "Carry me! We have a mountain to tunnel through!"

Dusclops picked up Swinub in one arm and began sprinting toward the mountain.

 **-static-**

"This is too easy," Chatot muttered, loudly enough for Noivern to hear him from behind. "There aren't any traps in the sky...there's gotta be somethin', or they wouldn't have allowed us to fly in this challenge…"

As soon as Chatot spoke those words, a dark stormcloud began to appear in the sky. It slowly grew into a spiraling vortex, crackling with lightning. The electric tornado drew closer to the flying and levitating Pokemon.

On the ground, Diancie looked to Jirachi, impressed. "How'd you manage to get that?"

Jirachi grinned. "Thundurus owed me a favor."

Chatot and Noivern halted mid-air as the tornado sped towards them. "Time to bail!" Noivern shouted frantically, flying the other direction.

Chatot flapped in place. In the midst of the storm, he could see a blue Pokemon riding atop a cloud. The tornado hit him the moment realization did; it was Thundurus.

"This was a bad ideeeeeaaaaa!" Chatot screeched as he was whipped around by the tornado.

 **-static-**

 **Thundurus waved a wad of cash in the confessional, grinning. "Jirachi offered me a spot on the show! I got paid to hurt people! Is that great or what?" he laughed madly.**

 **-static-**

Reuniclus grabbed the rocks with his gelatinous hands, pulling himself up further. "Oof," he grunted. "Maybe I should've done the sky route...nah, the Milotics might have attacked me."

Once he reached the peak of the mountain, Reuniclus looked down. The entire island was visible from this height, and it was more beautiful than Reuniclus had thought it would be. The sea shone with bright hues of blue, the many forests gave the island a lively look, and the landscape was magnificent.

"I should be focusing on the race," said Reuniclus, shaking his head. "Now how do I get _down_ the mountain safely…?"

 **-static-**

Beedrill knew he had to be nearing the home stretch of the race by now. He had flown through the beach easily, so the land mines hadn't been a problem-the forest had been easy too, since he had flown through the trees. The mountain was a slight struggle, since his wings weren't yet strong and flying up the side had exhausted his energy. Now he was passing through a rocky area of the island. He passed many caves as he went, wondering what was in the tunnels-maybe the key to the idol's chest? He'd have to visit the tunnels again later.

Beedrill squinted and saw something growing closer in the distance. "The finish line…?" muttered Beedrill. "I hope so. I'm getting awfully tired."

In a brilliant flash of lightning, however, Beedrill was struck down. He groaned in pain and looked up to see a blue genie Pokemon floating down. The Pokemon crossed his arms cockily and smirked at Beedrill.

"Nice try, bug boy, but no can do-I've been recruited by the hosts to make this challenge a living hell for any challengers trying to get to that finish line," Thundurus said, scowling. "I took down the bird with the hat already, and the bat chick too-you gonna put up a fight?"

"Wouldn't be very interesting otherwise, would it?" Beedrill retorted. He shot at Thundurus, who hadn't expected him to recover so easily. Beedrill jabbed his needle arms into Thundurus and injected some venom into the genie. Thundurus growled and smacked Beedrill off.

"NOW the real fun begins," Thundurus cackled, charging up a Thunderbolt.

 **-static-**

"What's that?" Dusclops muttered to Swinub as he saw a thunderous blast in the distance. A shock wave had rippled across the shore, letting Dusclops know someone powerful was ahead.

Swinub shrugged. "I don't know, but something's up! The only Electric-types here are Jolteon and Minun, and neither of them are that strong! Let's get a closer look."

Dusclops and Swinub emerged from the tunnel Swinub had dug, with Dusclops carrying the smaller Pokemon again. The ghost walked closer to where the shock wave had originated from.

As they approached the finish line, Dusclops was able to make out the legendary Thundurus hovering over the unconscious form of Beedrill.

"I, uh…" Dusclops was at a loss for words. "You wanna go on ahead to the finish line? Because there's no way I'm getting past a legendary."

"Not with that attitude!" Swinub said. "Dusclops, you're stronger than you give yourself credit for! Frillish told me you knocked her out in one hit back in the first challenge!"

"She's a Ghost-type too," Dusclops pointed out.

"But evidently you were stronger!" Swinub said. "So you've just gotta believe in yourself! Now go fight that legendary Pokemon!"

Dusclops remained in place, paralyzed by fear. "Uh, no thanks. But I appreciate the pep talk."

Swinub sighed. "It was worth a shot."

The little Pig Pokemon approached Thundurus, smiling happily to himself. "Hi there!" Swinub called to Thundurus. "My name's Swinub!"

Thundurus floated towards Swinub. "Ah, another challenger!" Thundurus boomed. "I hope you'll put up more of a fight than the others!"

Swinub glanced over to see a pile of unconscious campers where Thundurus had gestured-in it were Liepard, Lopunny, Mienshao, Beedrill, Chatot, and Noivern.

"But, to be honest, you look like a runt," Thundurus said bluntly. "The bunny chick gave me a run for my money-her Ice Punch was unexpected. But you?"

Thundurus cackled and launched a Thunderbolt directly at Swinub. "You'll be easy!" Thundurus chuckled.

But he was stunned when Swinub took the hit and didn't even flinch. In fact, Swinub smiled at the legendary. "I think you might have overestimated your odds, actually," Swinub said. "Sure, you're stronger than me, but you can't win everything with brute force! I'm a Ground-type."

Thundurus frowned. "Well, then you can't beat me either," Thundurus reasoned. "I'm part Flying-type. How do you like that?"

"Oh, goodie!" Swinub squealed. "I'm part Ice!"

Thundurus yelped as Swinub launched a flurry of snowflakes at Thundurus, freezing him to the ground. Thundurus struggled in vain to break free. Swinub began scurrying past him towards the finish line.

As Swinub was moving, however, Chesnaught charged down the mountainside. His limp slowed him down, but he quickly began passing up Swinub as the finish line came within reach.

"Almost there," Chesnaught grunted. "I need to have a word with Jirachi about those damn mines."

Swinub called out to Chesnaught. "Uh, Chesnaught, there's a mine in fr-"

BOOM! Chesnaught was sent flying once more as another land mine activated, sending Chesnaught sprawling across the sand.

"THE MILOTICS WIN!" announced Diancie. Swinub turned to see Dusclops there, watching Swinub guiltily.

 **-static-**

" **I hated backstabbing the little guy, but he was occupied with fighting Thundurus," Dusclops said. "It was a perfect opportunity to pass him."**

 **-static-**

"And that means the Great Gastrodons are going to the elimination ceremony!" Jirachi added. "And, uh, we might want to get Chesnaught to the infirmary. Two land mines in one day? Ouch!"

Jirachi snapped his fingers, teleporting all of the campers back to camp. Chatot looked concerned to see an unconscious Jolteon, but other than that, everyone was fine, with the exception of Chesnaught, who was being escorted by Diancie to the infirmary.

Jirachi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "What am I forgetting…?" he muttered. His eyes lit up after a moment of deliberation. "Oh, right! Thundurus!"

Jirachi clapped his hands and a frozen Thundurus appeared. "Jeez, you didn't tell me the porkchop was actually tough," Thundurus grumbled to Jirachi.

"I'm as surprised as you are. But less frozen than you are!" Jirachi responded. "And for your help today, Thundurus, I'm letting you pick one member of the Gastrodons to give immunity!"

Thundurus looked over the Gastrodons thoughtfully. "I'll give it to Swinub," he said. "If he beat me, he deserves it."

"You heard the man! Swinub has immunity tonight!" Jirachi announced to the losing team. "So don't vote him off. Now get off my island, Thundurus."

Jolteon began waking up as Thundurus flew away into the distance. "What happened?" he asked Chatot, who was standing over him.

"We won. But ya got knocked out somehow," Chatot said, looking confused. "I was wonderin' why you didn't win. Do ya remembah who got you?"

"No," said Jolteon, thinking carefully. "I got attacked from above while I was in the forest. And whoever attacked me must have been pretty strong physically-they did me in with one hit."

Chatot pondered Jolteon's words before helping his friend up. "Well, thinkin' about it won't help unless we get any concrete evidence. Let's go get some rest."

From afar, Mienshao watched the two of them intently.

 **-static-**

" **The elimination's coming up, but I hid my tracks well enough that I'm not a target," Mienshao said. "I have to keep a balance between sabotage and safety. I can't make it blatantly obvious that I'm messing the other team up or else I'm a target to practically everyone."**

 **-static-**

 **Lopunny was looking a bit beat up. "I wasn't expecting them to have a legendary attack us in the middle of a race!" Lopunny exclaimed. "Stupid genie caught me off guard. I don't think the team will hold it against me if I lost, though, since Mienshao and Beedrill lost as well."**

 **-static-**

"Well, well, well," Jirachi said, tossing a Pokeblock in one hand. "Great Gastrodons, you're not looking so great anymore! What's the matter?"

The Gastrodons looked like they had seen better days. Lopunny, Mienshao, and Beedrill were worn out from battle, Chesnaught was in a wheelchair, and Clauncher was sporting several injuries. Most of them looked unhappy to be at the campfire pit once again.

"No need to answer me, it was a rhetorical question anyway," Jirachi grumbled, put out by the lack of enthusiasm. "If I call your name, take a Pokeblock. You know how this works. Swinub, you're immune."

Swinub nodded happily and took his Pokeblock. Diancie took the tray of Pokeblocks from Jirachi and tossed them to the campers as Jirachi called their names. "Reuniclus, Vaporeon, Seviper."

Reuniclus caught his Pokeblock and gave Tyranitar a subtle nod. Vaporeon and Seviper exchanged a glance as they received theirs.

"Minun, Lilligant, and Lopunny," Jirachi read. Diancie tossed them a Pokeblock each. "Clauncher and Tyranitar are also safe."

Chesnaught, Beedrill, Torchic, and Mienshao remained. "This elimination ceremony came down to two of you in particular," Jirachi informed the remaining four. "And those two are Beedrill and Chesnaught. Torchic and Mienshao, come get your Pokeblocks."

Torchic let out a breath he had been holding in anticipation. Mienshao rolled her eyes at Torchic's reaction and went to claim her Pokeblock as well.

"So who's it going to be? Chesnaught, the walking firework, or Beedrill, the thunderstruck bug?" Jirachi asked, watching the campers' expressions.

"Get on with it, asshole," Chesnaught growled.

"You know, I never liked you. Evidently, neither did your team. Beedrill, get your Pokeblock," Jirachi said. Beedrill grinned and took his Pokeblock before joining Reuniclus and Minun in safety. "Chesnaught, you're out."

Chesnaught pounded the log he was sitting on in frustration before wheeling himself to the confessional.

 **-static-**

" **This is stupid. If I hadn't hit those land mines, it probably would have been Beedrill going home," Chesnaught snarled. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "I mean, I don't have anything against him, I just hate that I got out because of my injuries."**

" **If I have to pick a winner, I'm rooting for Tyranitar, Beedrill, or Lopunny. They're all tough, even if Tyranitar won't hurt a fly," Chesnaught finished. "I'm done here."**

 **-static-**

Chesnaught disappeared into the night as the boat sped away from the island. The Gastrodons were about to disperse from the dock when Jirachi blocked the path.

"Oh, no no no! Don't leave just yet!" exclaimed Jirachi. He snapped his fingers and the Milotics appeared. "I've got an announcement!"

"What could possibly be more important than getting some sleep?" groaned Baltoy.

"I'm insulted, Baltoy, don't you think I'd have something big planned?" Jirachi asked, shaking his head at the clay Pokemon. "Your next challenge begins NOW."

* * *

There was a lot going on this time! This chapter turned out very different from what I had envisioned due to some last minute tweaks, but I think it turned out all right.

Chesnaught got the boot tonight due to his injuries. I couldn't think of any other way to get him out, so I had to improvise and make something up. Yeah, I'm sorry if it wasn't that creative.

We have a bit of alliance drama going on here, too-Chandelure declines Dusclops' alliance offer, and Druddigon has an eye on both Chandelure AND Mienshao. Yikes. Scrafty and Mawile teamed up as well...who knows how that will go? I mean, I do, but that's besides the point.

And the next challenge is starting already? No rest for the wicked. What could Jirachi be planning?

Stay tuned, folks!

Chesnaught: Review, or you'll get blown up by a land mine.


	8. You Snooze, You Lose

To anyone who has supported the story so far, I'd like to thank you. Your reviews have been very kind and helpful.

The poll has once more received some votes, so here are the current results:

3 votes - Chandelure

2 votes - Noivern and Mawile

1 vote - Cryogonal, Swinub, Baltoy, Seviper, and Escavalier

And now I present to you the eighth chapter of Pokemon Drama Island!

* * *

"Wait, you mean the next challenge starts now? We don't even get time in between?" Minun gasped. "How is that fair?"

Jirachi rolled his eyes. "Since when has it ever been in the rules that this show has to be _fair?_ It's not fair, and that's why I like it!" he said, smirking.

"So what's the challenge?" Vaporeon asked. "And why are we doing it right after a race?"

"Relax, this challenge is easy...in theory," Jirachi said. "All you have to do in this challenge is stay awake. The Pokemon who stays awake the longest wins."

"Well played...he had us run a race and stay up for an elimination ceremony just to make us more tired before this challenge," Druddigon remarked. "I've got to hand that to him."

 **-static-**

" **I knew this challenge was coming, but this said nothing about the challenges being back to back," Baltoy complained, holding up a copy of the challenge calendar. "And Liepard probably knew it was coming, too, if she spent any time actually reading this."**

 **-static-**

"This challenge shouldn't be particularly difficult for any one Pokemon in particular," Diancie stated. "Nobody here has the Insomnia or Vital Spirit ability, so nobody can cheat by using that, either."

"As I said before, the last Pokemon awake wins for their team!" Jirachi said. "Essentially anything to stay awake is fair game, but you HAVE to be on camera at all times. No sneaking a nap."

With those last words, Jirachi grabbed Diancie by the arm and snapped his fingers, teleporting the two of them away, presumably into the "hosts' headquarters."

Scrafty leaned back against one of the cabins, grinning. "So, uh, who wants to take a snooze?" he snickered.

"Not happening," said Mienshao flatly.

"Well, I'm going to the cabins if all we have to do is stay awake," Castform told Noivern. "I might as well entertain myself in the meantime."

Noivern nodded, but as Castform was departing, Jirachi suddenly appeared before the campers once more. "Oh yeah! One more thing," he said. "The multi-purpose building has been transformed into a sort of recreational room. There's a ping pong table, a couple of TVs, some sofas...basic stuff. I figured it would be more interesting this way for everyone."

Noivern grinned at Castform. "That sounds like my kind of party," Noivern said.

"What, ping pong?" asked Castform, confused.

Noivern rolled her eyes. "No, not the ping pong! It's just that everyone's probably going to be there and it'll be a blast!" she said enthusiastically. She grabbed Castform and began flying toward the multi-purpose building. "Let's go!"

Most of the campers had left to check out the recreational room, but a few remained at the campfire pit. Scrafty was casually chatting with Mawile, whom he had become friends with relatively quickly after their alliance had formed. Chandelure remained at the pit, reading her brother's novel, and Torchic and Swinub wandered off to the cafeteria. Vaporeon decided to go down to the lake, and Lopunny followed after a moment's hesitation.

 **-static-**

In the rec room, most of the Pokemon were faring well, since the challenge had just started. Reuniclus and Clauncher were watching the newest _Cosmic Skirmishes_ movie while Noivern was cracking jokes to Azurill, who burst out laughing before she even heard the punchlines. Chatot and Jolteon were relaxing on one of the sofas in the back.

At the ping pong table, Dusclops was testing his skill against Minun, who seemed to have the upper hand with a score that was over double what Dusclops had. Dusclops soon conceded defeat. "Okay, I give. You're the better ping pong-er," Dusclops admitted.

"Ha ha!" Minun said triumphantly. "It doesn't seem like anybody's fallen asleep yet, huh? I wonder who will be the first one out."

"Beats me," Dusclops said.

 **-static-**

In the cafeteria, Swinub was sneaking snacks out of the refrigerator while Torchic stood guard at the door.

"So, uh, wh-what happens if Diancie shows up again?" Torchic stammered.

"That's a code pink," Swinub said. "So we bail before she sees us, right?"

"O-okay," Torchic said, nodding. "Wait, why are we raiding the f-fridge again?"

Swinub sighed. "I've got to pay back Jolteon," the Pig Pokemon said. "He gives me five bucks per day if I smuggle some food for him."

"B-but won't Diancie be mad when she finds out you've been sneaking food?" Torchic asked, peering into the fridge. A variety of foods were available to Torchic and Swinub there, ranging from frozen berries to the Pokeblocks served at elimination ceremonies.

Swinub shrugged. "She's pretty cool in my opinion. I think she'd-CODE PINK CODE PINK!" Swinub shouted suddenly, diving behind the refrigerator. Torchic yelped and dove beneath a table.

Diancie floated into the storage room and looked around, seeing the open fridge. "Could've sworn I heard someone yelling back here," she muttered, closing the fridge and leaving.

Torchic let out a sigh of relief. "That was a close one," he whispered to Swinub.

"Let's get these back to Jolteon," Swinub whispered back to Torchic, picking up his pile of snacks and shoving them into a bag. The two food burglars crept out of the kitchen and scampered back to camp.

 **-static-**

 **Baltoy smirked in the confessional. "Since we're allowed to wander anywhere on the island as long as we're on camera, I've decided to take this time to look for the key to the chest," he said. "Then I'll ACTUALLY be the most powerful player on the island."**

 **-static-**

" **This is a perfect time to try to get that idol," Beedrill said. "I haven't been able to make much progress since the dodgeball challenge, but now's my chance. I'll check out those tunnels I found before."**

 **-static-**

Chandelure glanced up from the novel she was reading to see Baltoy, Beedrill, Scrafty, and Druddigon departing from the campsite in different directions. They were probably all looking for the key to the idol's chest, Chandelure thought. She went back to reading her book.

Inside the cafeteria, Liepard was sitting alone at a table. Seviper slithered in and noticed the Dark-type, so she made her way over to join her.

"Oh. Hey," Liepard greeted Seviper as she sat down at the table. "Why are you here?"

"I don't know what elssse to do. I might fall asssleep out of boredom," Seviper told Liepard, who laughed softly. "What about you? Why are you here?"

"I don't know. For the same reason as you, I guess. I have nothing better to do," Liepard said. "How's, uh, being on the Gastrodons?"

Seviper frowned. "It'sss all right, but there'sss a few of them I don't trust...namely Mienssshao."

"Mienshao? Why?" asked Liepard. Mienshao had seemed like one of the Gastrodons' leaders to Liepard, along with possibly Lopunny.

Seviper eyed Liepard warily. "Why do you sssuddenly care about my team?" she asked, her tone a bit accusing.

"Seviper, we're all players in this game," Liepard explained. "It's best for everyone to get as much information as they can. So why don't you trust Mienshao?"

"She's up to something, I know that much," Seviper hissed. "She'sss tried to eliminate me in the passst; I'd bet money on it. I'd keep an eye on her if I were you."

Liepard watched Seviper get back up and leave the cafeteria. Something was bothering her, that was for certain. Liepard would have to keep an eye on both Mienshao _and_ Seviper.

 **-static-**

Beedrill flew across the island until he reached the tunnels near the most mountainous area of the island. His wings ached from all the flying, but he hoped his journey would pay off once he found the key.

He stopped once he spotted the first opening into the cavernous depths. Taking a deep breath, he flew into the tunnels and began searching around.

 **-static-**

" **I have a fear of dark, enclosed spaces," explained Beedrill, waving around one of his needle arms for emphasis. "Claustrophobia, that sort of thing. So exploring the tunnels wasn't exactly easy for me."**

 **-static-**

Beedrill picked at the walls with his needles, trying to open any cracks in the rock walls to see if the key was hidden there. He found nothing after a few minutes of this.

"Guess I'll have to go deeper," said Beedrill, swallowing nervously. He pulled out the flashlight he had brought with him and lit the passage ahead. "Here I go."

 **-static-**

At the lake, Vaporeon was swimming several laps around the perimeter of the water while Lopunny looked on and relaxed, enjoying the evening atmosphere. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, casting a pleasant orange glow across the island.

"It's getting harder to stay awake," Lopunny muttered to herself. "I'm probably almost at a day without any sleep…"

Vaporeon climbed out of the lake and began drying herself off. "What's wrong? You look tired," she said, walking over to Lopunny.

"Yeah, that's it. I am tired," Lopunny replied. "I didn't sleep too well the night before this, so...this challenge is gonna be rough."

"Well, stay awake for a while longer," said Vaporeon. "If you're the first one to fall asleep, you might get voted out."

Lopunny nodded and followed Vaporeon as they began heading back toward camp. As they were leaving, Vaporeon thought she heard some voices coming from the woods.

"Hang on...I think I hear something," Vaporeon whispered to Lopunny. The two girls stayed low to the ground and hid behind two rather large bushes. Lopunny peeked through the bushes in the direction she heard the voices coming from.

Sitting on a couple of logs in a clearing in the woods were Jolteon and Chatot. Jolteon was eating out of a large bag of chips while Chatot seemed to be discussing something with him.

"...and then we can get rid of Druddigon," Chatot finished explaining to Jolteon. "We just need a few othah Pokemon on our team ta vote with us, ya see."

"Yeah, I get it," Jolteon agreed. "And we should get rid of Druddigon as soon as possible. He hasn't made any moves yet, but it's only a matter of time. That guy's dangerous."

Chatot nodded. "I think we've said what we had to say and made some good decisions," Chatot said. "This meeting's adjourned."

Chatot flew away above the trees and headed back to camp. Jolteon glanced around nervously before walking off deeper into the woods.

Swinub and Torchic were awaiting Jolteon there. "You got the stuff?" Jolteon asked.

Swinub grinned and put two bags of food on the ground in front of Jolteon. "You can have twice as much food if you're willing to pay twice the price," Swinub offered. "Torchic's my partner now!"

Jolteon groaned and handed ten bucks to Swinub. He grabbed the bags of food. "Thanks, man," Jolteon said, heading back to camp.

Swinub clapped Torchic on the back. "And that, my friend, is how to make money!" Swinub exclaimed cheerfully. Torchic laughed nervously.

Lopunny and Vaporeon exchanged a look of confusion and decided to get back to camp.

 **-static-**

" **It looks to me like Chatot is running an alliance with Jolteon," Lopunny said. "They've got their sights set on Druddigon. I probably shouldn't get involved in the other team's business, but I can't help but be curious."**

 **-static-**

Scrafty was playing pool with Lilligant in the rec room while Mawile and Tyranitar looked on. Scrafty aimed his stick carefully and smacked the cue ball into another ball, knocking it into one of the pockets.

"You're good at this," Tyranitar complimented Scrafty.

"Thanks," said Scrafty, grinning. "Finally someone who recognizes my talents."

Mawile rolled her eyes at Scrafty as Lilligant hit a striped ball and sunk it into a pocket across the table. "Yay! Did I win?" she asked.

"You have no idea how to play pool, do you?" asked Scrafty, snickering.

Lilligant looked down at the ground, embarrassed. "No."

 **-static-**

" **I didn't find anything in the woods when I went out this time, either," Scrafty said. "I don't think I'm gonna find that key at all if things keep going the way they are now. So I eventually just decided to hit the rec room again, and voila! A pool table appears."**

 **-static-**

"SVOOL, ZAFIROO!" Escavalier shouted nonsensically at Azurill as she entered the rec room. Azurill was standing at the snack table with Noivern and Castform. A bowl full of red punch sat untouched at the end of the table, which was covered in an exquisite red tablecloth.

"Hi!" Azurill replied cheerfully. "What's up, battle bug?"

"NONE OF OUR COMRADES HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP YET, GENERAL," Escavalier replied, straightening her posture and saluting Azurill. "SHALL I SING SEASIDE SHANTIES TO THEM TO BOOST MORALE?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Azurill said. "I think they can keep themselves awake."

Castform groaned from across the table. "Well, I kind of wish I was asleep," she grumbled. "It's not that I don't like you guys, but staying up for hours on end without any sleep makes social time a lot less fun."

"CHEER UP, TOAST GHOST!" barked Escavalier. "AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT SWIMMING IN HEAVEN! THE CLOUD KING WOULD HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THAT!"

"Escavalier, my whole body is my head," Castform replied, ignoring the fact that Escavalier's statement was nonsensical to begin with.

"That is QUITE the conundrum," said Escavalier. "I shall be leaving now. TALLYHO AND UZIVDVOO!"

"She's crazy," Noivern said.

"She's just one of a kind," Azurill replied.

 **-static-**

"Mmm," Torchic said through a mouthful of Rawst-flavored candies. "This stuff is good. W-we should raid the kitchen m-more often!"

He turned to see Swinub's response, but his friend was fast asleep on the floor of the cabin next to him. Torchic gasped.

"Uh-oh...if he's asleep, that means he's out," Torchic realized. The intercom blared loudly outside, causing Torchic to jump.

"SWINUB HAS FALLEN ASLEEP! THAT'S ONE DOWN ON THE GREAT GASTRODONS!" announced Diancie over the intercom.

From outside the male Gastrodons' cabin, Seviper groaned quietly. They were already down a player, and they had started with fewer than the Milotics. This was going to be a rough challenge.

 **-static-**

Several more hours passed without any excitement. The campers had reached the 24-hour mark by this point.

"How much longer do you think it will take for the next one to fall asleep?" Diancie asked Jirachi as they monitored the campers from inside the hosts' headquarters.

Jirachi tapped his chin for a brief moment. "Hm...I give them three hours, tops."

"I give them two," Diancie replied. They both continued watching the monitors until Jirachi noticed someone collapse.

"Azurill just crashed...I guess we were both wrong," Jirachi said, sipping a cup of tea. "At least that evens the score a bit. I want this challenge to go down to the very last camper!"

"Why? That means we have to stay up longer," Diancie pointed out.

Jirachi rolled his eyes. "Because of the ratings, duh! The more intense the challenge, the more ratings we roll in! So we have to keep this interesting, and if it doesn't excite the viewers, we MAKE it interesting," he finished, rubbing his hands together and grinning devilishly.

"Oh Arceus," groaned Diancie, recognizing Jirachi's crazed grin. "What are you planning this time?"

"Psh. I'm not gonna ruin the surprise yet," Jirachi said, leaning back in his chair. "We'll use my idea if this gets too boring."

 **-static-**

Castorm was snickering as Noivern drew silly faces all over Azurill as the Polka Dot Pokemon slept at her seat at the snack bar. Noivern finished giving Azurill a mustache in black marker and turned to Castform with a mischievous grin.

"So what now?" Noivern asked Castform. "Looks like some other Pokemon are starting to fall asleep around now. Swinub and Azurill are out of the challenge already."

"I don't blame them. It's been a day, and this challenge caught all of us off guard," Castform said, drinking a cup of red punch. "It wouldn't surprise me if somebody fell asleep right now!"

Behind Castform, Clauncher wobbled a few times unsteadily before faceplanting onto the ground. Reuniclus poked his unconscious friend.

"I'm awesome at this," bragged Castform.

 **-static-**

"How are you holding up?" Scrafty asked Mawile. The two of them were sitting together on a sofa with some romantic comedy playing in the background.

Mawile turned her head to face Scrafty. "I've been better," she said. Scrafty could tell she was tired by her voice. "How about you?"

Scrafty shrugged. "I've pulled a few all-nighters before. This isn't exactly a walk in the park, but it's far from the hardest thing I've done."

Liepard walked into the room and flopped onto another sofa across from Scrafty and Mawile. "I'm so tired," she moaned. "This is literally the worst."

"Why? We've got movies, punch, and, uh...well, we've got movies and punch!" Scrafty said. "It's like the hosts are actually letting us party, but it counts as a challenge! So why aren't you having fun?"

Liepard simply grunted in response. Scrafty snickered. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"

"I WILL KILL YOU."

 **-static-**

Cryogonal and Dusclops were outside, standing by the locked chest in the center of camp. Cryogonal eyed the chest curiously.

"So we've still got nothing," Cryogonal muttered. "How can we open this chest without the key? Finding the key will be nearly impossible, since the hosts gave us no clues."

"Hey, brighten up, man! We probably don't even need the idol. I can't think of any enemies that either of us have made on the island," Dusclops said optimistically.

Cryogonal responded with a curt nod. "You're right, but that can change. I don't trust Chandelure; she's smart and she seemed pretty suspicious when she turned down your alliance idea," Cryogonal explained. "Having the immunity idol would be a safety precaution."

"But there's only one idol, and two of us," Dusclops said. "We can't even split the idol anyway, dude. Let's just get back to the party. It's boring out here."

"That's where I disagree," Cryogonal said, turning to face Dusclops. "We might not be able to share the idol, but we're both on the same team. So one of us keeps the idol, and when either one of us is put up for elimination, we can use the idol to remain on the island."

"Huh," Dusclops said. "That's actually not a bad idea."

"That's what I'm here for," said Cryogonal, giving his friend a small smile. "But you're also right in saying that we've made no progress in opening this chest tonight. So let's search around the island later; there's a party we ought to be at right now."

"All right, man!" Dusclops exclaimed, holding up his hand for a high-five.

"Dusclops, I don't have hands," Cryogonal reminded Dusclops. "If I did, I would be facepalming right now."

"But if you had hands, you could have returned the high-five, could you not?" Dusclops pointed out.

Cryogonal sighed. "Let's just go to the party."

 **-static-**

Lilligant and Tyranitar were down at the beach, walking by the shore. Tyranitar paused for a moment and picked up a small pebble. He tried to skip it across the lake, but it sank as soon as it hit the water.

Lilligant laughed softly and plucked a pebble from the sand. She tossed it gently and it skipped across the surface a few times before sinking underwater. "That's how you do it," she explained, smiling.

Tyranitar returned the smile and sat down on the sand. "Thanks. I just need something to get my mind off the challenge," he told her. "This is a really nice opportunity to relax and get to know everyone here a little better. But if I keep thinking of it as a challenge, it just gets stressful."

"I know what you mean," said Lilligant, sitting down next to him. She looked up into the sky, where the stars were beginning to show in the night sky. "I wish the challenges weren't so competitive...there are so many nice Pokemon here, but Mienshao says they're all enemies just because they're on the other team."

"'Mienshao?'" repeated Tyranitar, raising an eyebrow. "Since when were you friends with her?"

Lilligant realized her mistake too late. "Uh, we just...talked during the first challenge, and we sort of became friends after that?" she said lamely.

Tyranitar stared at Lilligant quizzically. "Is that it?" he asked. "You said you were in an alliance before, and now it sure sounds to me like Mienshao is bossing you around."

"It's not like that!" protested Lilligant, but she didn't sound sure of herself. "Okay, I'll admit it. We work together and we vote together, but it's not like I'm just some pawn in Mienshao's game!"

"Hm," Tyranitar said. "You'd best be careful that Mienshao doesn't see it that way." With that, he got up and wandered back to camp, leaving Lilligant alone on the beach, confused.

 **-static-**

" **Does she really see me that way?" Lilligant said to herself, pacing in the confessional. "I thought we were friends, but after all that 'sabotage' talk last challenge, I'm not sure I really** _ **can**_ **trust her!"**

 **Lilligant sat down and placed her head in her hands. "But I can't just say that to her face! She's my friend, but she's so competitive that she probably cares about the money more than keeping her friends in the game," Lilligant muttered. "So maybe she's not really my friend after all."**

 **-static-**

"LOPUNNY IS OUT!" Diancie announced over the intercom. A tired looking Vaporeon returned to camp and slumped down on one of the logs at the campfire pit. Chandelure cast a quick glance at Vaporeon before returning to her book.

"Looks like they lost another one," Druddigon commented to Chandelure as he stepped out of the woods.

"What were you doing in the woods?" Chandelure asked him. "Looking for a certain key?"

"I have no obligation to tell you what I was doing in the woods," Druddigon replied sharply. "Whether you're my teammate or not, I have no reason to trust you. I know the game that you're playing, Chandelure, and you're not going to win."

Druddigon left Chandelure and entered the male Milotics' cabin. Chandelure glared after him.

 **-static-**

" **I don't know who he thinks he is, but he's just earned himself a high spot on my elimination list," Chandelure growled. "He thinks he's so high and mighty...I could easily vote him off if he messed up a challenge. He's alone. He's expendable."**

 **Chandelure frowned. "Unless he really DID find the idol. That would throw a wrench in my plans."**

 **-static-**

Baltoy watched Reuniclus and Beedrill play a card game against Chatot and Jolteon with a bored expression. He knew this challenge had been coming, but there hadn't been enough time to prepare for it. And now he was suffering from boredom because of that.

"Got any nines?" Jolteon murmured to Chatot in a slurred voice.

Chatot gave him a concerned look. "Jolteon, we're not playin' Go Fish," the bird informed him. Jolteon muttered something incomprehensible and slammed his face on the table. Chatot poked him with a wing.

"Well, he's out," Chatot said to Reuniclus and Beedrill. "So what game do ya wanna play now?"

"JOLTEON IS OUT OF THE CHALLENGE!" announced Diancie.

Some loud scuffling was heard through the intercom before Diancie's voice was replaced by Jirachi's. "PLEASE START FALLING ASLEEP ALREADY. I'M REALLY TIRED," Jirachi stated through the intercom.

"Why would anyone voluntarily fall asleep? We'd lose the challenge," Reuniclus said, rolling his eyes.

"THE FIRST POKEMON TO FALL ASLEEP NOW WINS IMMUNITY!" Jirachi offered.

"Sorry, man," Beedrill said, grinning at Reuniclus. The bug closed his eyes and immediately began snoring. Reuniclus facepalmed.

 **-static-**

" **I'm not sure if Beedrill made the dumbest or smartest move right there," grumbled Reuniclus. "But I'm, uh, surprised that he'd make a move like that."**

 **-static-**

Six more painstaking hours passed without incident. Baltoy groaned loudly and fell onto the floor. "You know what? I'm done. Good night," he said irritably. Chatot watched his teammate fall asleep and shook his head.

"They're dropping like flies," Chatot said. "Really sleepy flies."

Reuniclus gave Chatot a weird look.

 **-static-**

"This movie is terrible," Mawile said as she watched the movie that was playing on the TV screen. It was some cheesy foreign movie. One of the actors let out a shout as a tower in the distance went up in flames.

"THE BURNT TOWER WAS BURNT OFF BY FIRE," said the actor in a foreign accent.

"WE WILL NOT DESTROY THE TOWER EVEN IF WE ARE CRAZY!" shouted another person in the movie. Scrafty snorted.

 **-static-**

Chandelure noticed Vaporeon breathing peacefully on the log she had been on for a few hours. She floated over and prodded the Water-type. Vaporeon awoke with a jump.

"You were sleeping," Chandelure said.

"Oh," said Vaporeon, evidently unaware that she had just taken a nap. "The hosts didn't notice, did th-"

"VAPOREON IS OUT!"

"Damn."

 **-static-**

" **This challenge was harder than everyone thought," Vaporeon admitted. "Staying awake sounds easy, right? It gets a lot harder as you go, and we'd been at it for over a day."**

 **-static-**

"And Liepard is also asleep!" Jirachi shouted through the intercom. He turned to Diancie. "Now we're talking! There aren't too many of them left now, maybe twenty or so?"

"Eighteen," Diancie corrected him. "And we're losing them pretty fast now...yep, there goes Castform."

"Castform is out!" Jirachi announced through the intercom. He scooted his chair over so Diancie could reach the intercom system. "You should announce again. My voice is sore."

"You're just lazy," Diancie said. She took over for him anyway.

 **-static-**

Most of the remaining campers had all gathered at camp now. Any Pokemon who had gone off exploring on the island had returned, since everyone was too tired to do anything that would require much physical effort. Chatot had started playing rock-paper-scissors against Noivern. Chandelure was trying to read her book, but Escavalier kept trying to constantly stab the front cover of the book. Minun was talking to a tired Torchic, trying to keep him awake.

Dusclops was leaning against a tree, looking pretty drowsy himself. Cryogonal wandered over to the Beckon Pokemon to check up on him. "Are you still awake?" Cryogonal asked.

"Yep," Dusclops said. "I don't know how much longer that'll be true for, though. I think I'm about to crash."

"Me too," Cryogonal said. "Staying awake isn't my forte. I don't know how the others are doing it so well."

"OKAY, THIS IS GETTING BORING FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED," Jirachi shouted over the intercom. "SO HERE'S AN IDEA: I NEVER STATED IN THE RULES THAT YOU COULDN'T _KNOCK_ SOMEBODY OUT!"

 **-static-**

" **He literally opened the door for sabotage," Mienshao said, chuckling. "The opportunity was so perfect."**

 **-static-**

"Oh shoot, he's right!" Dusclops exclaimed. "Hey Cryogonal, we should go knock some of the Gastrodons out! You're pretty strong, right?"

Dusclops glanced over at his friend to find him lying on the ground, unconscious. Mienshao stood behind him, smiling.

"Uh-oh," Dusclops whimpered as Mienshao lunged at him.

 **-static-**

" **Remind me not to pick a fight with a ghost next time," Mienshao groaned in the confessional. "I couldn't even attack him...I feel so stupid."**

 **-static-**

"CRYOGONAL AND MIENSHAO ARE OUT!" Diancie announced. A drowsy but satisfied Dusclops sauntered out of the woods.

"Okay, team, gather around," Druddigon ordered. The Milotics all looked at each other before silently agreeing to listen to Druddigon's plan. The Milotics huddled around Druddigon, and he took his cue to continue. "There are six Gastrodons remaining, and eight of us. Jirachi said sabotage is allowed. I think we should launch an all-out attack on the other team and end this now. Any objections?"

"Yes," Chandelure said. Druddigon turned and glared at her. "If they see our attack coming, we lose the element of surprise, and that could possibly turn the tide of the battle against us. We should try to stay awake without interfering with the other team."

"Look at them!" Druddigon said, exasperated. "Who do they have that would fight back? Torchic? Tyranitar? They're practically WAITING to lose!"

Chandelure looked as if she was about to say something, but Noivern spoke up first. "I'm with Druddigon, regardless of whether the rest of you are or aren't," she said calmly. "This might be our only shot, you know? Let's not waste it."

Chatot stepped up and glared at Druddigon. "If I may add somethin'," he said, getting the group's attention. "We have to pay attention ta the threats they DO have. Lilligant could prove a problem in this challenge; her species can learn Sleep Powdah."

"You're right," said Dusclops. "If she targeted us with a Sleep Powder attack, our team would be finished. No chance of winning at all."

"So we need everyone we can get to join the attack," Druddigon pressed. "I know this plan has its flaws, but it _is_ the best chance we have at winning right now. Who's willing to mount an attack right now?"

Druddigon raised his hand and looked at the others expectantly. Noivern shrugged and raised a wing shortly after. Escavalier enthusiastically jabbed both of her lances in the air, and Dusclops eventually raised a hand as well.

"That's four of us," Druddigon said. "So only half the team. Those of you who are with me, you've made the right choice. And those against," he said, eyeing Chatot in particular, "shouldn't be surprised if they get some votes tonight."

Chatot scoffed as Druddigon led Noivern, Dusclops, and Escavalier into the shadows behind one of the cabins, where they began discussing a battle plan. The bird turned and walked back into the rec room.

"Hey, what was Druddigon talking about out there?" Scrafty asked Chatot as he walked in. "I, uh, missed the speech and all."

"He's plannin' an attack on the Gastrodons," Chatot squawked. "I think it's a bad move, but he's got four others followin' him. Why weren't ya out there?"

"Didn't want to wake the lady," Scrafty replied, winking. Chatot noticed Mawile was fast asleep, leaning on Scrafty's shoulder. Chatot smirked at Scrafty and left the room.

 **-static-**

"Uh...is it normal for the other team to be charging at us?" Torchic muttered to Minun. The Electric-type turned around in surprise and saw Druddigon charging toward the Gastrodons with Escavalier, Noivern, and Dusclops following closely behind.

"DEUS VULT!" Escavalier cried, launching herself at Minun. Minun yelped in fear as Escavalier whacked her over the head with a lance, knocking her out cold.

Reuniclus and Seviper looked up from their conversation to see Druddigon and Noivern shooting towards them. Reuniclus quickly backed up, but Seviper took a hostile stance.

"You think you can take me?" Seviper hissed at Noivern as the bat flew at her. "Bring it!"

Noivern unleashed an Air Slash attack, sending waves of harsh wind at Seviper. The serpent took the force of the blast and retaliated by lunging at Noivern. Seviper sank her fangs into the bat's wing and then let go. Noivern winced as she felt Seviper's poison coursing through her veins.

Before Noivern could follow up with a counterattack, Seviper drenched Noivern in a splash of venom. Noivern felt herself growing weaker and slower, and as she tried to attack Seviper, the serpent unleashed a mighty Venoshock attack on her poisoned target. Noivern fell to the ground, unconscious.

Druddigon was hardly faring any better against Reuniclus. The psychic was dodging all of his melee attacks by pushing Druddigon backwards telekinetically. Druddigon growled in frustration; he'd have to fight using long range attacks to catch Reuniclus off guard.

Druddigon's mouth began to glow a hot red and Reuniclus knew what was coming. But he couldn't move in time, and he was engulfed in the fiery fury of Druddigon's Flamethrower. Before Reuniclus could recover, Druddigon followed up by slamming Reuniclus with a Giga Impact attack.

Reuniclus wasn't finished yet, however, and the Psychic-type knew Druddigon had to recover from his Giga Impact attack. Reuniclus floated directly over to Druddigon and used Zen Headbutt, causing Druddigon to flinch. Reuniclus seized his opportunity and smashed Druddigon in the face with a surprising Ice Punch.

 **-static-**

" **Tricky bastard would know Ice Punch," said Druddigon, rubbing his face where Reuniclus had hit him. "I knew I should have kept a closer eye on him."**

 **-static-**

Druddigon grabbed Reuniclus by the arm before he could pull himself back, and he ripped his claws across Reuniclus in a furious Dragon Claw attack. Reuniclus gasped in pain as Druddigon sank his claws deeper. Reuniclus lost consciousness as Druddigon kept up the onslaught.

Dusclops approached Lilligant, charging up a Shadow Ball attack in his hands. He was about to release it when Tyranitar stepped in the way.

"I'm giving you one chance to back out of this before anyone gets hurt," said Tyranitar firmly.

Dusclops swallowed nervously and launched his Shadow Ball. It bounced off of Tyranitar's armored body and landed next to Dusclops, where it vanished into thin air. Tyranitar sighed and picked up Dusclops with one hand.

"I did warn you," Tyranitar reminded Dusclops. He twirled the ghost around with one arm and tossed him across camp. Dusclops landed on the ground with a thud, but he was unhurt.

 **-static-**

" **I have to say I'm impressed by the fact that he held back, even when I attacked him," Dusclops said. "Tyranitar has my respect, even if he's on the other team."**

 **-static-**

"Thanks," Lilligant said, running over to Tyranitar.

"Don't mention it," he said with a smile, turning to face her.

Lilligant smiled back hesitantly. "You're not hurt, are you?" she asked. "You didn't have to protect me like that, you know...I can fight."

"But that's what friends are for, right? To have each other's backs," Tyranitar said kindly. Lilligant was about to reply when a loud clank was heard.

Tyranitar felt his breath being knocked out of him as he was hit from behind. He collapsed onto the ground, revealing Escavalier, who was poised and ready to fight.

"SURRENDER NOW, OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!" Escavalier shouted at Lilligant. Seviper charged at Escavalier from behind, but Escavalier whirled around and jabbed the serpent with one of her lances. Seviper fell on top of Tyranitar, unconscious as well.

"Uh...I choose surrender?" Lilligant said, hoping Escavalier would show her some mercy.

"I APOLOGIZE, BUT EVERY OPPONENT MUST BE SLEEPING FOR US TO WIN!" Escavalier shouted. "SO I HEREBY KNOCK YOU OUT MERCIFULLY!"

Escavalier smacked Lilligant across the face with all the force she could muster, and the plant hit the ground and fainted. Dusclops cheered as she fell.

"We won!" Dusclops cheered triumphantly.

Jirachi suddenly appeared beside him. The legendary snapped his fingers and Diancie appeared as well. "No, you didn't," Jirachi said. "There's one Gastrodon left."

Druddigon picked up Torchic and sucker punched him in the face. "Done," grunted the dragon.

"Now you've won!" Jirachi said, clapping his hands together. "Excellent! We didn't even have to hit the 48-hour mark! It looks like the Great Gastrodons will be going to the elimination ceremony."

 **-static-**

The Marvelous Milotics were all getting some rest after their long struggle to stay awake, but the Great Gastrodons received no such luxury. Jirachi woke them all up and brought them to the campfire pit.

"So, you all know what time it is!" Jirachi said brightly. "Time to eliminate someone! Torchic was your last Pokemon standing, but he wasn't able to put up a fight against Druddigon! So place your votes, because one of you losers will be walking that dock!" Jirachi pointed to the wooden dock as he finished.

 **-static-**

" **I didn't do so well in today's challenge," Lopunny said, frowning. "But I think my leadership in previous challenges will have made a good enough impression that I'll stay tonight."**

 **Lopunny tapped her fingers against her knee as she thought. "I don't really know who I want to send home, but Pokemon like Swinub and Clauncher are prime candidates, since they also got out early," she said.**

 **-static-**

" **I've convinced Minun and Lilligant to vote with me, as usual," Mienshao said. "And this time, I was able to get Torchic and Swinub to vote with us as well. Swinub was desperate enough to hand over his vote to stay in."**

 **-static-**

" **I don't want to be voted out because I fell asleep first!" Swinub said frantically. "I suck at staying awake for long periods of time! It's not one of my many skills!"**

 **-static-**

Jirachi twirled the tray of Pokeblocks on his finger as the campers finished up their voting. "The results were interesting tonight," Jirachi said, smirking. "And it might not be who you expect to go home! So first off, I gave Beedrill immunity before to speed up the challenge, which he kindly did."

Beedrill walked up and stabbed a Pokeblock before popping it into his mouth. He sat back down next to Minun and put an arm around her. Minun had bags under her eyes and wasn't looking too well.

Reuniclus, however, was probably in the worst condition due to his scrap with Druddigon. He had claw marks across his gelatinous body, and his lack of sleep only made him look worse for wear. He was so tired he didn't even process Jirachi calling his name.

"Okay, whatever. Sleepyhead doesn't realize he's safe," Jirachi said, throwing the Pokeblock at Reuniclus. It got stuck in his mushy arm. "Seviper, you're also safe tonight."

Seviper grumbled something and took her Pokeblock halfheartedly. Jirachi continued to rattle off names. "Lilligant, Lopunny, Vaporeon, Minun, Tyranitar, and Mienshao!"

Torchic, Swinub, and Clauncher were the only ones without Pokeblocks remaining. Jirachi glanced at all three of them in turn. "One of you is getting booted tonight," Jirachi said. "We could break up Torchic and Swinub's dynamic duo or eliminate Clauncher and take out one of Reuniclus' friends…"

Torchic shivered nervously in place. Swinub faced his friend with a worried expression. Clauncher tapped the log underneath himself nervously.

"Evidently, the team wasn't too angry over your cowardice tonight, Torchic! You're safe for another round," Jirachi announced. Torchic cast a glance at Swinub and went to take his Pokeblock.

"Now, Clauncher and Swinub, you're both here for your performance in today's challenge!" Jirachi said. "And neither of you was exactly stellar, I have to say. So which one of you does your team value more? And which one of you will be eliminated?"

Clauncher was beginning to tremble again. He had come close to his elimination when Frillish had been sent home, but would his team be as forgiving the second time?

Swinub was watching Jirachi intently. He didn't know if he would make it past this round...hopefully voting with Mienshao was the right move.

"The last Pokeblock of the night goes to…" Jirachi held out the Pokeblock in suspense.

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Clauncher," finished Jirachi. Clauncher was visibly shocked at being saved again, but he went up to claim his Pokeblock. "Swinub, I regret to inform you that you have been eliminated."

"...Oh," Swinub said quietly. "Okay."

Swinub began slowly walking himself to the confessional. Torchic hesitated for a moment, but then ran after his friend.

"H-hey! Swinub!" called Torchic. He caught up to the Pig Pokemon and held out a talon. "It was nice to actually have someone I could call a...a friend."

Swinub looked at Torchic for a few seconds. Then he broke into a huge smile and shook Torchic's talon. "Any time, pal," he said. "But I've gotta go now. So you win that money, you hear?"

"G-got it," Torchic said, nodding.

 **-static-**

" **Well, my time on the island has been great, but…" Swinub suddenly dozed off mid-sentence. The confessional door opened a few seconds later and Jirachi lifted him out telekinetically.**

 **-static-**

The Gastrodons watched as Swinub left the island. Many of them were sad to see him go, including Clauncher; he wished the elimination hadn't been between him and Swinub.

But Torchic seemed the most affected by Swinub's departure. The Fire-type sat at the dock for a half hour after Swinub's elimination, just staring in the direction where the boat had left. Most of the Gastrodons had left the campfire pit by then, but Clauncher saw Torchic sitting alone and wandered over to him.

"You okay?" Clauncher asked, sitting next to Torchic.

"Y-yeah," muttered Torchic quietly. "It's just...Swinub was my first real... _friend_."

"You've never had a friend before?" Clauncher asked. No wonder Torchic was so awkward and scared...nobody had ever been there for him before Swinub.

"It's, uh, n-no big deal," said Torchic, getting up shakily. "But thanks for a-asking, I guess."

Clauncher smiled at the Fire-type. "Any time, man."

 **-static-**

"That didn't go as planned," Mienshao muttered to herself. She had met in the woods with Minun and Lilligant again. "How do we keep losing the vote? We had Swinub and Torchic voting with us this time!"

"So there were clearly six or more votes for Swinub," Minun said. "It's simple math, Mienshao. Just because we're working together doesn't mean we win the majority vote."

"But we're going to have to if we want to win this game!" Mienshao hissed. "It should have been Clauncher going home! We had a perfect opportunity to get someone from Reuniclus' alliance again!"

Lilligant watched as Mienshao continued ranting angrily about the voting ceremony. She couldn't help but feel that Mienshao might not really be on her side...

* * *

Woohoo! This is it, guys! We're officially one quarter of the way through the story! There's no turning back now.

This chapter took on a different dynamic than its predecessors, but I think it was still a good fit for the story. A lot happened this time, and there are some hints toward future events.

There were also a TON of references and little secrets this chapter, so pat yourself on the back if you noticed them all-you've got a good eye!

This time, Swinub got the boot. It was sad to get rid of him, but I made sure to give him the spotlight for the past two chapters so his elimination wasn't unjustified.

It seems that Swinub's elimination has had an impact on Torchic, but also on the balance of the Gastrodons. Reuniclus has an alliance of four, yet he was able to outvote Mienshao's alliance plus two. Hm…

Lilligant is getting more and more conflicted about her allegiance to Mienshao, which will surely lead to some drama later. Some campers had some quality time with their friends this chapter, while others became enemies...namely Druddigon and Reuniclus. Druddigon definitely left his mark on the poor guy. Ouch.

Druddigon's making a lot of enemies, isn't he? Chatot's still at his throat, and now he's managed to piss off Chandelure. Hopefully he's got an ace up his sleeve, or he might be in serious trouble.

I guess that's all I have to say, but go ahead and hit me up via PM if you want to talk a bit more!

Swinub: And don't forget to review!


	9. Phobia Frenzy!

Sorry that this one took even longer than chapter six to publish! I don't have much of an excuse besides being sick for a few days and studying for a few exams. Maybe those are good excuses. I don't really know.

At any rate, I hope you enjoy the episode! Kick back and relax, folks-Pokémon Drama Island has returned.

Here are the latest in poll results:

3 votes - Mawile and Chandelure

2 votes - Noivern

1 vote - Cryogonal, Azurill, Minun, Baltoy, Escavalier, and Seviper

Mawile seems to be getting a lot of attention recently, as well as Chandelure. But in the end, there can only be one!

* * *

 **-static-**

" **Jirachi said I'm allowed to send in a confessional since I fell asleep during mine last time!" said Swinub. He was sitting in a much larger and emptier room that looked much cleaner than the confessional. "And I don't have to do it in an outhouse! So that's a bonus!"**

" **Anyways, I'd really like it if Torchic won. He's smarter than he looks, even if he's too scared to show it," Swinub said, smiling. "But Azurill from the Milotics seems pretty cool and strong too, so if Torchic doesn't win, I'll root for her!"**

 **Swinub waved at the camera. "Bye, guys!"**

 **-static-**

"I can't wait for today's challenge," Jirachi said to Diancie, grinning maniacally. "This is going to take this show to the next level!"

"Oh boy," Diancie groaned. "Try not to seriously injure any of the contestants...you know we can't afford lawsuits."

"Diancie, I'm not making promises I can't keep," said Jirachi, rolling his eyes. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not someone who breaks promises!"

"You're basically a sadist," Diancie said, raising an eyebrow.

"But I'm a sadist who doesn't break his promises!" Jirachi protested.

 **-static-**

" **I was looking through this last night," Liepard said, holding up her challenge calendar. "And, uh, the next challenge entry just says 'YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE' in really big capital letters."**

" **I'm not really sure what to make of that," Liepard confessed. "The calendar doesn't do me any good if I can't interpret it."**

 **-static-**

Mawile scoffed as Scrafty lit another cigarette. The two of them had met in the woods to discuss their plans for the next few challenges.

"So let's get to the point. If we lose, who do we want to eliminate?" Mawile asked Scrafty. "We know Chatot and Jolteon are working together. Druddigon could be a threat later, as he's a strong player, but he's alone. The same can be said for Chandelure."

"I personally don't like either of them," said Scrafty.

Mawile crossed her arms. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to try to make friends with our teammates instead of antagonizing them."

"I didn't antagonize Druddigon!" Scrafty said defensively.

"You tried smoking in the cabin," Mawile said, raising an eyebrow. "Druddigon was trying to make sure you didn't suffocate half of our team."

"Yeah, whatever, princess," Scrafty muttered. He spat his cigarette onto the ground and stomped on it with one foot. "I was going to tell you some good news, but you seem to be on a roll with pointing out my flaws."

"Scrafty, come on. I'm kidding," Mawile said. "You don't have to get angry."

Scrafty sighed and ran a hand over his head. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that." He awkwardly rubbed his arm with his other hand. "I was going to tell you about a secret something I found this morning."

Scrafty shifted so that he could reach into his pocket, but the intercom suddenly blared loudly enough that it could be heard even in the woods. "CAMPERS! BOY OH BOY, THIS DAY JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER! COME SEE WHAT I FOUND WHEN I WOKE UP THIS MORNING!" Jirachi shouted.

When Mawile and Scrafty arrived back in camp, most of the other campers had already gathered in the center of camp to see what the commotion was about. Jirachi was floating above the crowd, grinning happily while Diancie levitated calmly a few feet back.

Most of the crowd still looked tired from the last few nights. Lilligant had bags under her eyes and practically looked like a zombie the way she shambled around exhaustedly. Dusclops walked out of the Milotics' cabin and yawned, rubbing his eye. Beedrill was looking rather peeved that he had been awoken at such an early hour.

Mawile made her way to the front of the crowd so she could see, being a shorter Pokémon. Once everyone had gathered around, Jirachi cleared his throat and began speaking. "So! I was in for a surprise when I left my cabin this morning," Jirachi said. "I didn't expect you guys to solve my puzzle so quickly!"

Mawile's eyes darted to the chest, which had been unlocked and was now hanging wide open. The idol that had supposedly been inside was missing. "Somebody went and found the key to the chest!" Jirachi announced. "Isn't that great? Any one of you here could have that idol right now!"

Some of the campers looked around warily. Chandelure cast suspicious glances at Druddigon, who ignored her. Castform looked genuinely confused about how someone found the key already. Lopunny was surveilling the other campers, but she didn't pay anyone in particular too much attention.

"That's all for now, folks! Jirachi out!" shouted the charismatic host. He clapped his hands and disappeared instantly. Diancie glanced at the chest briefly and then headed towards the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

" **Looks like somebody found that key. I'll let them enjoy their small victory while it lasts," said Baltoy ominously.**

 **-static-**

" **If someone'sss found the idol already, they could use that idol at any time," Seviper said uneasily. "And we don't even know who hasss it, to make mattersss worse."**

 **-static-**

"Mienshao. She's the one we want."

Reuniclus glanced up from his 3DS as Tyranitar sat down. Beedrill and Clauncher joined them at their table moments later after receiving their breakfast from Diancie.

"What do you mean by that?" Reuniclus asked. "Why would we want Mienshao?"

"What's this about Mienshao?" asked Beedrill curiously.

Tyranitar smiled. "I found out who the other alliance leader is-it's Mienshao. She's been leading Lilligant and Minun since the beginning. Now, according to our wager, I believe you owe me ten bucks."

Clauncher groaned. "Dude, I'm not giving you ten bucks! You don't have any proof!" protested Clauncher.

"Just give him ten bucks," Reuniclus told Clauncher. The Water Gun Pokémon grudgingly handed over ten dollars to Tyranitar, who pocketed it with a grin. "Okay, I'm willing to trust you, Tyranitar, but I am curious. Where'd you find this information?"

"I got it from Lilligant herself," said Tyranitar, stabbing a waffle with his fork and eating it whole. "So what do you make of the news?"

"Mienshao's a dangerous player, no doubt about that," Reuniclus admitted. "She attacked Cryogonal back in yesterday's challenge and I don't doubt she may have tried sabotage before that I just haven't seen."

"So should we try to eliminate her?" Beedrill asked. "The problem here is that she may be leading an alliance, but she is still a strong player. One of our strongest, actually; eliminating her might be a huge mistake on our part."

"So we don't get rid of her yet, then. We can wait until the teams are merged and then decide our course of action from there," Reuniclus proposed. "All in favor?"

Reuniclus and Tyranitar raised their hands, and Clauncher did after a few moments of hesitation. Beedrill crossed his arms defiantly. "I don't know. I think we need to see what she's capable of and eliminate her depending on how much of a threat she could be to us," Beedrill stated. "Why don't we try that?"

"You want to, uh, observe her in challenges or something?" asked Reuniclus. "Well, okay. Tell me if you find anything that might be relevant, I guess."

"Will do," said Beedrill. He got up and flew out of the cafeteria, leaving Reuniclus, Tyranitar, and Clauncher at their table alone.

"What game are you playing there?" Clauncher asked Reuniclus, peering over at his 3DS.

"Pokémon Omega Ruby," Reuniclus replied. "I'm training my Alakazam right now."

"Dude, that's kinda weird," Clauncher confessed.

 **-static-**

" **And then Jirachi got all mad at me and lectured me about breaking a fourth wall or something," Reuniclus said, looking confused. "What did I do?"**

 **-static-**

"So what do we do now?" Chatot muttered to himself as he sat with Jolteon in the woods. "Somebody's got the idol already, so gettin' that's outta the question."

Jolteon munched on a bag of chips. Chatot scowled and snatched the bag out of his hands. "Would it kill ya ta stop eatin' for ONE SECOND?" snapped Chatot. "We need ta talk strategy here, Jolteon."

Jolteon groaned. "Can I have those chips back?" he pleaded.

Chatot sighed and tossed the bag of chips back. "But seriously, we should talk," said Chatot. "It could be someone on our team who found that idol. If I had ta place bets, I'd say Druddigon might have found it."

"So what are you trying to say?" asked Jolteon. "You want to vote him out?"

"Exactly," said Chatot. "If we're right, he loses the idol, and now he's exposed to the team. If we're wrong, he goes home and isn't a threat ta the both of us anymore. You see what I'm gettin' at?"

"I like that plan," said Jolteon, grinning. "So how are we going to get Druddigon out?"

"Depends on what the challenge is. Easiest way might be ta sabotage him a bit," Chatot explained. "Nothin' too serious; I don't want to get him hurt on accident. But it should be enough ta get the team mad at him."

"Okay. If we lose, I know who I'm voting for," Jolteon said. He held out his bag of chips. "Want some chips?"

"No thanks."

 **-static-**

The hosts had, kindly enough, left the rec room around after last challenge for the campers to enjoy. Azurill was in there playing ping pong against Noivern while Castform watched.

"What kind of challenge do you think Jirachi's cooking up now?" Castform asked her friends.

"Last time it wasn't really a physical challenge...so I'd place my bet on something physical," Noivern said. "But then again, this show can be pretty unpredictable."

Suddenly, confetti rained from the ceiling of the rec room. "Like that. I wasn't predicting that," Noivern said, brushing off some confetti. Castform and Azurill exchanged a confused glance.

 **-static-**

" **I wish I could make it rain confetti unexpectedly," Castform said. "That's almost cooler than making mini rainclouds, you know?"**

 **-static-**

"So Chandelure was a no-go," Dusclops muttered, flipping through a list of his teammates. Cryogonal was with him inside the male Milotics' cabin. "Uh, we might be able to recruit Jolteon. What do you think of that?"

"If I'm going to be honest, it sounds unnecessary," Cryogonal admitted. "Look, Dusclops, we're doing fine with just the two of us in an alliance. Jolteon might be a decent player, but eventually he'd be holding us back because we'd have three players to keep in."

"I know," sighed Dusclops. "I was just hoping that we could get a few more Pokémon in on our alliance...it sucks being a duo. Hey, what about Mawile? She doesn't seem like she's with anyone else, and she's smart!"

"That's actually not a bad idea," Cryogonal agreed. "Mawile's a lot smarter than Jolteon."

"So should we ask her?" Dusclops prompted enthusiastically.

Cryogonal nodded hesitantly. "Okay, we can ask her. But if she says no, we're not getting anyone after this. I think Mawile's our last shot at recruiting someone else."

"There's Liepard too, actually," Dusclops added. "She might work in an alliance."

"Dusclops, we don't need half the entire team to win the game!" Cryogonal said. "As it is, an alliance of three might be pushing it. As much as I hate to say it, Chandelure had some points. Let's keep our alliance small."

"Okay," Dusclops agreed reluctantly. "I'll go find Mawile."

 **-static-**

"Hey there!"

"Hm?" Mawile glanced up to see Dusclops walking towards her. The phantom leaned against the side of the cabin.

"You're a pretty smart player. Probably one of the smartest on our team," Dusclops began, figuring a bit of flattery might not hurt. "I was wondering if you might be interested in working in an alliance."

Mawile froze up. Alliance? If they wanted her, that meant that her alliance with Scrafty was probably still secret...but she'd have to come up with a reason to turn down Dusclops.

Or would she? Mawile quickly began considering her options. After a few seconds, she smiled and nodded. "Okay. I'm in," she said.

Dusclops seemed surprised. "Wow. Okay," he said. "Uh, Cryogonal's in the alliance too, so, uh...yeah. Welcome aboard, I guess."

 **-static-**

" **That went more smoothly than I thought," Dusclops said. "Huh."**

 **-static-**

" **So here's my idea: now that I'm separately allied with Scrafty as well as Dusclops and Cryogonal, I have a plan," Mawile explained. "I can find out who Dusclops and Cryogonal are voting for and then make my own decision with Scrafty. After that, if we have a better candidate for elimination than Dusclops and Cryogonal, I can try to convince them to change their votes. If all goes well, I could effectively use four votes at once."**

 **Mawile smiled. "I think this game just got a little easier."**

 **-static-**

"She joined?" Cryogonal asked, looking shocked. "How'd you manage that?"

"I guess I'm a pretty charming guy," said Dusclops jokingly. "Maybe Mawile was already looking for an alliance, and we gave her an opportunity? It's my best guess."

"That could be true," Cryogonal said.

 **-static-**

" **Or perhaps Mawile is playing at something bigger," said Cryogonal skeptically. "I think I'm going to keep an eye on her for a while. Something doesn't seem right."**

 **-static-**

"OHHHHH CAMPERS! IT'S CHALLENGE TIME!" Jirachi shouted through the intercom. "REPORT TO THE MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING, PRONTO!"

"Isn't that place still the rec room right now?" Minun whispered to Lilligant.

"ACTUALLY, WE MOVED THE REC ROOM TO A NEW BUILDING," explained Jirachi. "SO NOW YOU CAN HAVE FUN AFTER WE GIVE YOU TODAY'S TORTURE!"

"How'd he hear that?" muttered Minun.

 **-static-**

Once all of the campers were inside the multi-purpose building, Jirachi and Diancie appeared before them. Jirachi cleared his throat before beginning.

"Okay, so today we decided to go for something unique," Jirachi said. "Today's challenge won't be like anything else you've done on the island yet."

"How so?" asked Liepard. She was still curious about the challenge calendar.

"We looked through each of your files and found something that each of you fear," Diancie continued. "In today's challenge, you will have to overcome that fear...or let it conquer you."

"For each Pokémon that successfully faces their fear, they get a point for their team!" Jirachi said. "But any Pokémon who is too scared to face theirs won't get a point. If you only partially face your fear, that doesn't really count either. It's all or nothing, kiddos!"

"You're telling me that you just somehow found out what each of us is afraid of?" Vaporeon asked skeptically.

"Want to find out?" asked Jirachi, grinning.

"We'll be starting with someone from the Milotics, actually," Diancie interjected. "They have more players, so it makes sense for them to go first."

Jirachi held out a top hat, and Diancie reached her hand into it. She pulled out a piece of paper and read the name on it. "Castform," Diancie read. "You're facing your fear first."

"Oh, come on," moaned Castform. She floated towards the hosts. "What do I have to do?"

"At any time, if you're too scared to complete the fear, you can press this button," Diancie said, handing a button to Castform. "Jirachi will then teleport you to safety, but you forfeit getting any points for your team."

"Got it," said Castform. Azurill watched Castform nervously float up to Jirachi. "So, uh, what's my fear?"

"Shouldn't you already know that?" Jirachi muttered, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, you are afraid of sandstorms, since they're the one condition you aren't suited for surviving!"

Jirachi grabbed Castform and teleported her out of the room. Diancie held up a remote and clicked a button on it. A large screen at the end of the room turned on, and the campers could view the location Jirachi and Castform were at from inside the building.

"Where'd he take her?" Noivern asked Diancie.

"A different part of the island. We can't do every fear in one place," said Diancie. "They'll be back once Castform is done."

On the screen, the campers could see that Jirachi and Castform were on a deserted part of the island. Sand was blowing wildly around the two of them, and the campers could see Castform was breathing heavily.

"All you have to do is stay in the sandstorm for four minutes!" Jirachi told Castform. "If you can do that, it's a point for your team!"

Castform began to panic as more sand began swirling around her. She was constantly getting stung by the flying grains of sand...she couldn't protect herself here. After a minute and a half, Castform couldn't take it and pressed her button.

Jirachi teleported Castform back to the multi-purpose building. "Come on, that was an easy one!" said Jirachi, looking disappointed. "It's just a sandstorm!"

"That's easy for you to say! You're a Steel-type," Castform said, shivering.

And so the fears continued. Diancie pulled another name out of the hat and read it aloud. "Clauncher," Diancie called. "You're next."

Clauncher groaned and stepped forward. Jirachi grabbed Clauncher and teleported them both away as the campers watched the screen again.

Jirachi and Clauncher were in the middle of the forest on the other side of the island. "Clauncher, your fear is being lost, particularly when you're alone," Jirachi stated. "So if you can find your way back to camp, you win!"

Clauncher trembled as Jirachi left him alone in the woods. The darkness between the trees was so menacing...and he never knew what could pop out of the trees at any moment…

Suddenly, one of the trees moved. "RAAAHHH!" it yelled, waving its branch-like arms wildly. Clauncher let out a high-pitched scream and took off in the other direction as Trevenant cackled.

 **-static-**

" **My fear wouldn't have been so bad if there weren't MOVING TREES," Clauncher said, throwing his pincers up in the air. "I mean, it was basically like the third challenge all over again, except I was alone, and…"**

 **Clauncher shuddered. "I hate being alone in the woods."**

 **-static-**

"While we wait for Clauncher to find his way back since that's a long one, we'll have some others go," Diancie said. "Next up is Jolteon!"

Jolteon hesitantly walked forward. "What am I going to have to do?" he asked nervously.

"Jolteon, you're afraid of spiders," Diancie said. "All you have to do is let this Spinarak touch you."

"What?" yelped Jolteon as Jirachi led a Spinarak into the multi-purpose building. "I can't do that! Spiders are all gross and weird!"

The Spinarak frowned at Jolteon. "You know what's gross? Your attitude," she said, tapping Jolteon gently. The Electric-type fainted, but Diancie gave him the point for going through with it.

 **-static-**

" **I mean, come on. I'm not that bad, am I?" asked the Spinarak, looking troubled. She sighed. "Life is hard when you're a spider."**

 **-static-**

Jirachi stuck his hand in the top hat and plucked another name. "Reuniclus is next!" announced Jirachi. "Come on up, jelly boy!"

"Did you just call me 'jelly boy?'" Reuniclus repeated, wandering over.

"Yes. Deal with it," Jirachi responded, teleporting them both away. The campers watched as Jirachi and Reuniclus reappeared in a large clearing where the dirt had been dug up and sloppily packed back into the earth. The holes where the earth had been displaced were almost shaped like...graves.

Reuniclus looked around nervously before turning to Jirachi. "What the heck is this place?" he asked, trying not to sound panicked.

"Reuniclus, your fear is a zombie apocalypse!" Jirachi said. "I'm sure you'll figure out why I brought you here soon enough." With that, the host teleported away.

Reuniclus noticed a shovel lying on the ground and picked it up, wielding it with both hands. Soon, the ground began to tremble, and out of the graves emerged the undead!

Reuniclus let out a battle cry and started swinging the shovel at anything that moved.

 **-static-**

" **I don't think I'm afraid of zombies anymore!" said Reuniclus, smiling. "They went down really easily once I started hitting them with a shovel!"**

 **-static-**

"Those aren't _real_ zombies, a-are they?" Torchic asked.

"Of course not! We had the interns set up a makeshift graveyard. Right now, the interns are disguised as zombies to scare Reuniclus," Jirachi explained.

"Jirachi, he's attacking them with a shovel," Diancie said.

Jirachi snickered. "Yeah, and it's hilarious."

 **-static-**

Reuniclus was brought back to the other campers a moment later. He was still holding a shovel and breathing heavily, but he had earned his team a point for the completion of his fear.

"Clauncher still isn't back yet," Tyranitar told Reuniclus when he sat down. "But he's not out of the challenge either, so there's still a chance he could earn a point."

"That's good," muttered Reuniclus. "Say, what are you afraid of, Tyranitar?"

"You'll find out soon enough," said Tyranitar glumly.

Diancie pulled another name. "Dusclops!" she called out. The phantom rose and approached the hosts to accept his fear.

"You are afraid of clowns," Diancie said. "So in order to pass your fear, you have to hug this Mr. Mime!"

A Mr. Mime walked into the building, and Dusclops immediately went pale. He turned to Diancie and began desperately trying to negotiate. "H-hey, Jolteon didn't have to hug the Spinarak! Can't he just, like, touch me and be done with it?" Dusclops begged.

"Nope! This is more interesting!" Jirachi laughed. "Now go give him a hug!"

Dusclops shuddered and walked up to the Mr. Mime. Closing his eye, Dusclops quickly embraced the clown and then promptly fainted on the spot.

 **-static-**

" **When I was just a Duskull, my parents took me to a circus," Dusclops said. "And one of the Mr. Mimes there gave me a flower. I thought it was nice at first, but then it squirted water all over me! Since then, I've never been able to trust those sneaky clowns."**

 **-static-**

"We'll have Lopunny up next!" called Jirachi. Lopunny made her way to the front of the crowd and waited patiently for further instruction. "Lopunny, you're afraid of needles!"

"So what are you going to do, jab me with a needle?" asked Lopunny, rolling her eyes.

"Yes," Jirachi responded, pulling one out.

Lopunny shrieked as Jirachi approached her with the needle. Diancie held the bunny down as Jirachi tried to insert the needle into her arm. Lopunny swiftly kicked the host in the face.

"Ow! Sheesh, it's harmless! There's only water inside the needle," grumbled Jirachi. "And you failed your fear for kicking me in the face."

Lopunny glared at him and walked back to the Gastrodons. Jirachi rubbed his face gingerly and read the next name. "Azurill, you're up next!"

Azurill bounced to the front of the room. "What's up, doc?" she asked, smiling.

"Azurill, you suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia!" Jirachi announced. "Boy, that's a mouthful, isn't it?"

Azurill squirmed uncomfortably. "All you have to do is listen to seven long words," Jirachi said. "And then you get a point! The first word is floccinaucinihilipilification."

"I think I'll pass," said Azurill, whose left eye was twitching uncontrollably.

"Okay! No points from Azurill," Jirachi said.

 **-static-**

" **Really? Azurill actually has a fear of long words?" Baltoy sighed. "I...shouldn't even bother pointing out why that fear doesn't make sense."**

 **-static-**

"And from the Gastrodons, we'll have Lilligant!" Jirachi called. "Get up here!"

"Lilligant, you have a fear of fire," Diancie said. "Specifically being burned alive, apparently. All you have to do is escape from a burning building and you earn a point."

Jirachi snapped his fingers and Lilligant was teleported to a rickety wooden shack. The host whipped out a lighter and lit the shack on fire.

Seconds later, Lilligant trudged out of the building on fire. She didn't even try to put herself out as she collapsed on the ground.

Jirachi floated over, looking half disappointed and half impressed. "Why weren't you screaming and being afraid? You just walked through a burning building!" the host reminded her. "Also, you're on fire."

Lilligant looked up at him, and there were visible bags under her eyes. "I'm too tired to be afraid," she groaned, falling unconscious.

Jirachi sighed and extinguished the burning Lilligant with a handy fire extinguisher. He teleported them both back to the multi-purpose building, where Diancie was updating the team scoreboard at the front to show two points for each team.

"How's Clauncher doing?" Jirachi asked Diancie after she was done.

Diancie stared at him blankly. "I thought _you_ were going to keep an eye on him," she said.

Jirachi smacked his face. "Ugh, darn it! Do we at least have a camera on him?"

 **-static-**

Clauncher was rocking back and forth in a fetal position in the woods. "The hosts will find me eventually," Clauncher assured himself. "I should just wait here and they'll rescue me."

Suddenly, loud hoots came from one of the trees nearby. Clauncher let out a high-pitched scream and jumped into a hole in the ground. Noctowl cackled from her perch in the tree.

 **-static-**

"Chatot! Come on up, man!" Jirachi called. The bird tipped his hat and joined Jirachi at the front of the room. "You're up next!"

"I figured that much out mahself," Chatot said, rolling his eyes.

"Your greatest fear is death!" Jirachi said.

"You're going ta kill me?" Chatot asked, frowning.

Jirachi shook his head. "No, Chatot, that is illegal. We picked the best alternative; burying you alive! It's like simulating death, but you get to live through it!"

Chatot groaned as Jirachi grabbed him by the wing and teleported them both to the woods. Jirachi shoved Chatot into a coffin-shaped box and tossed him into a hole in the ground.

"Five minutes in there and you're golden!" Jirachi shouted so Chatot could hear. He began covering the hole with dirt.

Chatot shuddered. It was only five minutes...but being buried underground admittedly did make him quite nervous, and for good reason.

 **-static-**

"Seviper, come on up," Diancie said, pulling her name out of a hat. Seviper slithered up front to listen to what the hosts had to say.

"You're afraid of being stranded at sea!" Jirachi said, smiling at the all of the campers' discomfort. "So we're going to strand you on an island!"

"I'm already on an island in the middle of the ocean," Seviper pointed out.

Jirachi frowned. "...fair point. Well, that can be fixed!" he said, snapping his fingers. Seviper blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself alone on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Choppy waves hit the side of the boat, rocking it back and forth.

"Thisss isssn't good," Seviper said, shrinking away from the sides of the boat. She looked at her button. "Well, at leassst if it getsss too bad, I can presss the button…"

Another rough wave rocked the boat, sending it flying back and forth. The button tumbled overboard and began sinking underwater.

"Damn it," cursed Seviper.

 **-static-**

"Seviper's fear will take time to complete as well," Jirachi said, setting a timer to ring upon completion of Seviper's fear. "I'd say we'll leave her stranded for fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen? Chatot only has to do five!" Minun protested.

"TOO BAD," said Jirachi. "Next up is Mawile!"

Mawile stepped forward and crossed her arms. "You mentioned back in episode two that you were afraid of heights, did you not?" Jirachi asked, smirking.

"Shouldn't have said that," Mawile muttered to herself as Jirachi teleported the two of them away again.

Mawile found herself once more on the cliff from the first challenge. She turned to face Jirachi. "This again?" she asked. "I did the jump in that challenge. I got over my fear."

Jirachi groaned. "Wait, really? That sucks," Jirachi complained. "Well, I'm going to make you do it again anyway. You have to jump off the cliff to prove that you're really not afraid of heights."

Mawile glanced over the side of the cliff and then at the button in her hand. Shrugging, she stepped off the side and plummeted down into the lake below.

"That's one point for the Milotics," Jirachi mumbled, visibly disappointed at Mawile's lack of fear. "Time to get back to the others."

Jirachi and Mawile reappeared in the rec room moments later. Mawile left the room to go dry off, passing by a terrified Chatot, who was inside as well, being comforted by Jolteon.

"In case you missed it, Chatot snapped and pressed his button after three minutes," Diancie reported. "But Mawile did score a point for completing hers, so that's one more point for the Milotics."

"What about Seviper and Clauncher?" asked Reuniclus. "Where are they?"

"Heck if I know," said Jirachi, shrugging.

 **-static-**

"Ssstay calm, Ssseviper," the serpent told herself as her boat was hit by another monstrous wave. She was adrift at sea with no land in sight. "The hosssts will find you..."

Seviper yelped as another wave rocked the boat. "But not sssoon enough," she whispered.

 **-static-**

Clauncher panted after running through the woods even more. He had gotten hopelessly lost after a short while and couldn't even remember which direction he had come from. He looked up at the sky, but the clouds obscured the sun, making it almost impossible to use the sun as a navigational tool.

"I'm screwed," moaned Clauncher, sitting down on a rock and resting his head in his pincers.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes. Expecting another spooky owl or moving tree, Clauncher tensed up and readied a Water Gun.

Out from the bushes stepped Shiftry, who was humming to himself and munching on an Oran Berry. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Clauncher aiming a Water Gun at him.

"Wait, you're that one guy who hosted the talent show!" Clauncher realized aloud. He absorbed the water back into his claw. "Look, I'm lost! Can you help me get back to camp?"

Shiftry glanced around nervously. "Uh, look, I'm not really supposed to help any of the contestants or interfere with the show in any way," Shiftry informed Clauncher. "So you'll just have to-"

"Come on, man, you can't leave me out here!" Clauncher begged. "I'll pay you! If you get me back to camp, I can pay you."

"With what?" asked Shiftry skeptically.

"Um…" Clauncher tried to think of something. "With...food?"

"Can't say no to that. You've got a deal!" agreed Shiftry, holding out a leafy hand. Clauncher shook it and Shiftry began leading him north. "Camp is this way. Follow me!"

 **-static-**

"But forget about Seviper and Clauncher! Seviper's only got thirteen minutes left, and Clauncher...can probably find his way eventually," finished Jirachi lamely. Reuniclus sighed discontentedly but said nothing.

"Hm...we'll be having Beedrill next!" said Diancie, pulling the bug's name from the top hat. "Come on up!"

Beedrill flew to the front and tapped his needles together. "What's my challenge?" he asked bravely.

Diancie smiled at him. "You don't seem too afraid," she remarked.

Beedrill nodded confidently. "I can handle whatever you throw at me," Beedrill said. "Fear is all in the mind. I just need to get over my fears to win."

"You seem to know what you're doing," Diancie said, clearly impressed. "Which is good, because your fear is definitely psychological. I'll let you figure out what it is."

Jirachi grabbed Beedrill by the needle and teleported both of them away once more. The campers watched the big screen as Jirachi and Beedrill appeared in a desert, not unlike the one Castform had previously been in.

"You see that wooden post over there?" Jirachi shouted to Beedrill over the sandstorm. The Bug-type glanced to his right and saw a post half buried in the sand. "Stand right up against it."

Beedrill did as he was told, and Jirachi pulled a bundle of rope out from behind his back. He bound Beedrill's hands behind his back and tied Beedrill to the post with a tight knot.

"You're going to leave me here tied up?" Beedrill guessed. "This doesn't exactly seem like a psychological test, like Diancie said."

"Oh, you'll see," said Jirachi. "You'll see." With a quick smirk, Jirachi snapped his fingers and vanished from Beedrill's side, reappearing in the multi-purpose building.

 **-static-**

 **Beedrill was covered in sand and shivering. "I'll admit, those hosts figured out my fear surprisingly well. Hell, they knew what I was afraid of more than I did."**

 **Beedrill stopped and looked at the camera. "That's a really scary thought, actually. How'd they know what I was afraid of? Jirachi's a Psychic-type. Did he read my mind?"**

 **Beedrill glared at the camera and jabbed a needle at it intimidatingly. "You stay out of my mind, you weird little host!" Beedrill growled.**

 **-static-**

"When's he coming back here?" Beedrill muttered to himself. He had waited for several minutes, and the host had yet to reappear. He wanted to be able to move his arms, but was unable to do so.

The sandstorm wasn't exactly helping, either. Grains of sand blew into Beedrill's face on occasion, agitating the bug. "Alright, that's it," Beedrill snapped. "I'm getting myself out of here."

Beedrill positioned his needle-like arms so that he could cut the ropes binding him to the post. Once his arms were free, he fluttered his wings and tried taking off into the air.

The key word in that sentence being 'tried,' as Beedrill realized his legs had sunk into a pit of quicksand that the post had been stuck in.

"That stupid host tricked me!" Beedrill groaned. He struggled as much as he could, but to no avail. "I'm...I'm trapped."

With sudden realization, Beedrill knew what his fear was. He was helpless. He couldn't get himself out, and there was no one around to help him.

"Well played," Beedrill muttered as the quicksand pulled him in further. He ceased struggling and tried to stay in place.

Jirachi suddenly appeared by Beedrill's side. "Not so independent any more, are you? You seem to be in a bit of a pickle," Jirachi said smugly.

"I can see why pretty much everyone hates you now," Beedrill said bluntly.

Jirachi snickered. "They're just jealous because they don't have cool legendary powers like I do. But anyway, you did conquer your fear of being helpless." He grabbed Beedrill and brought them both back to the multi-purpose building.

Diancie changed the scoreboard so both sides read 3. "The Gastrodons have tied the score due to Beedrill earning a point," announced Diancie.

Several of the Gastrodons cheered upon Beedrill's entrance. Tyranitar gave Beedrill a pat on the back and Minun ran over and hugged him. Beedrill's expression softened and he gave her a small smile.

"So without further ado, it's time for the next victim," Diancie said. "The hat has chosen Baltoy!"

"Good luck with that. You don't know what I'm afraid of," Baltoy scoffed defiantly.

"Oh, really? Then why don't you say hi to your childhood friend, Eelektrik?" Diancie asked.

Jirachi snapped his fingers and a floating blue eel Pokémon appeared in the room. Baltoy didn't have to open his eyes to realize who had just entered the room; he had started backing up towards the exit already, his arms shaking.

"Hey there, old pal," Eelektrik hissed, smiling in a rather deranged manner. "Don't you remember me? Your old friend, Eelektrik?"

"You were never my friend," Baltoy said coldly. Several campers noticed that Baltoy's voice was shaking slightly.

Eelektrik tilted his head slightly. "Oh? I remember us being best friends for several years," he said. His voice made many of the campers uncomfortable; there was clearly some hostility hidden in the exchange of words between Baltoy and Eelektrik. "Why don't you come over and greet your old pal?"

"Go on, Baltoy," urged Jirachi.

Baltoy stiffly floated over, knowing what was coming. Eelektrik embraced Baltoy in a tight hug; as a matter of fact, he was using a Bind attack. Baltoy felt his breath escaping him as he struggled in vain. Baltoy desperately tried to hit Eelektrik in the face with a Mud-Slap, but Eelektrik simply shook it off.

"You know Ground-type attacks won't work on me," Eelektrik growled. "Why are you still trying to fight me, Baltoy?"

Baltoy gasped for air as the Bind attack grew tighter. Concentrating all of his psychic powers, Baltoy unwrapped Eelektrik's body with his mind and flung him against the wall, full force. Upon impact, Eelektrik simply disappeared.

Baltoy stared in shock and many other campers looked confused. Jirachi floated forward to address them. "And that, dear campers, was all just an illusion!" Jirachi stated cheerfully. "Created by yours truly! And Baltoy, you successfully conquered your fear of facing your childhood friend."

Baltoy glared at the host and floated out of the room. Liepard watched him curiously as he left, wondering what could have happened in his past to make him act like this.

 **-static-**

" **I...I don't know what came over me," Baltoy said, looking distressed. "I've never felt so...vulnerable before. How did they know what happened in the past?"**

 **He sighed and tried to regain his composure. "Eelektrik used to be my friend," he reminisced. "All through our first years of school, we were inseparable. I was always good in class, and he was good at sports. I helped him with academics and he helped me in gym class."**

" **But then the 'popular kids' recognized his talent in sports and invited him to join their teams," Baltoy recalled bitterly. "We spent less and less time together as he tried to build a reputation as an athlete. He left me behind. I had no one."**

" **But I waited anyway. I thought maybe we could still be friends." Baltoy was beginning to look a bit sad. "And one day, one of the jocks thought it would be funny to pull a prank on me. He got his friends together and they all agreed...even Eelektrik."**

 **Baltoy looked down. "What they did was...terrible. I was ridiculed in front of everyone, and who could I go to for comfort? I even tried to talk to Eelektrik again afterwards, hoping we could patch up our friendship, but...he treated me like we were never friends."**

" **I haven't trusted anyone completely since," Baltoy admitted. "I don't know why I'm even saying this in the confessional, but...I just needed to let it out eventually. I guess I feel a bit better now."**

 **Baltoy looked at the camera. "But I'm still deleting the confessional tape. I don't need everyone knowing the story of my whole damn life," Baltoy growled, reaching for the camera.**

 **-static-**

"Vaporeon, your fear is of electrocution!" announced Jirachi. He was standing outside with Vaporeon, who was looking nervous at Jirachi's last statement. "All you have to do is take three Thunderbolt attacks and still be standing to win!"

"From whom?" Vaporeon asked.

"Me!" said Jirachi, beaming. He sent a blast of electric energy at Vaporeon's feet. Vaporeon yelped and jumped out of the way. Jirachi cackled and started casting Thunderbolt everywhere. Vaporeon hid behind a bush and watched Jirachi fearfully.

 **-static-**

" **He could have killed me!" Vaporeon said. "Sometimes I think this show is out to get me…"**

 **-static-**

"If you don't come out from behind the bush in ten seconds, you lose," Jirachi called to Vaporeon.

"I think I'll take my chances behind the bush!" Vaporeon replied.

Jirachi sighed. "Fine, be boring. No point for you." He teleported them both back inside the building. "Looks like it's time for a Milotic to go."

Suddenly, the door to the building burst open. Clauncher crawled inside, panting heavily. "I made it!" he shouted.

"So you did," Jirachi said. "Well, that's a point for the Gastrodons! The teams are tied again."

"Nice one," Tyranitar said to Clauncher as the Water-type sat back down next to him.

"Thanks," Clauncher said. "What'd I miss?"

"Kind of a lot," Tyranitar informed him. "About half of us still have to go."

"I missed that many?" exclaimed Clauncher. "Aw, come on!"

Jirachi and Diancie met at the front of the room again. "Noivern!" Diancie called, pulling the bat's name out of the top hat. "You'll be going next!"

"Actually, wouldn't it be best to do Druddigon's if we're doing hers?" Jirachi interrupted. "And maybe Chandelure's as well?"

"Fair point," Diancie said. "Okay! Noivern, you're facing your fear, but Druddigon and Chandelure will be facing it with you!"

"A triple fear challenge?" Chandelure murmured. "This is new...I wonder what the hosts are trying to pull here."

Druddigon followed the hosts and the other two Milotics out of the building, eyeing Noivern and Chandelure warily as he did so. He wasn't sure why Noivern and Chandelure would be a part of his fear.

"So I'm just going to ask the question that's on everyone's minds," Noivern said. "Why all three of us at once?"

"You all have similar fears," Diancie told her. "So we're doing them all at once to make this go a little quicker. We have to run this show on a schedule, you know."

"Fair enough," Noivern said, shrugging.

Jirachi cleared his throat before he began to explain. "So! Noivern, your fear is being frozen, and Druddigon, you also share this fear. That's why you two will be facing it together."

"I'm not afraid of being frozen," Chandelure pointed out. "I can melt the ice. I'm a Fire-type."

"Yours was similar, though," Jirachi said. "Chandelure, you are afraid of water! So we're going to spray you with a hose fifteen times, and we'll do the same to Druddigon and Noivern, but they'll be standing in a freezer, so the water will freeze them!"

Several minutes later, Diancie and Jirachi were both holding hoses. Chandelure was positioned in front of Diancie and looking bored. Druddigon and Noivern were in the storage room in the back of the cafeteria, standing inside of the freezer. Jirachi had his hose pointed at them.

"This is humiliating," Druddigon sighed as Jirachi sprayed both Druddigon and Noivern with high pressure water. Noivern squealed uncomfortably as she was sprayed by the freezing cold water.

Chandelure was not faring much better. After each consecutive spray from Diancie's hose, she grew weaker; if the water put out her flames, she would end up seriously injured.

Chandelure glanced at the button in her hand and then at Diancie. "You only have to get sprayed six more times," Diancie said.

"I'm not risking it," said Chandelure, pushing the button. She was brought back to the multi-purpose building, where she began to dry off with a towel.

"You didn't earn any points?" Azurill asked Chandelure. "C'mon, water's not so bad!"

"Don't make me find a big word in the dictionary," snarled Chandelure. Azurill shut up at that.

After the tenth spray of icy water, Noivern pressed her button as well, teleporting back to Castform and Azurill. Only Druddigon was left getting sprayed.

"Are you almost done?" Druddigon asked, drenched in water. The water was slowly freezing and causing Druddigon to shiver.

"One more spray!" Jirachi told him. He blasted Druddigon once more, but the dragon was still standing. "Wow. You passed. That's one point for the Milotics!"

Druddigon staggered back into the building and took a towel for himself to dry off as well. Scrafty watched in amusement as Druddigon broke the ice that had formed on his body from all the spraying.

"Tyranitar, we'll be doing your fear next!" Diancie announced. Tyranitar groaned and got up.

"Tyranitar, your biggest fear is being stuck as a cocoon for your whole life," Jirachi said. "You knew how bad it was from your time as a Pupitar, but you're afraid of having to live your whole life like that."

Tyranitar shuddered. It was true; being a Pupitar had severely restricted his everyday capabilities. One of the reasons he had befriended Beedrill so easily as a Kakuna was because he knew what he was going through.

"But wait a second...you can't make me un-evolve into a Pupitar...can you?" Tyranitar asked worriedly.

Jirachi grinned and clapped his hands. "See for yourself!"

When Tyranitar looked down at his body, he realized he had no arms or legs. His body had been transformed into the blue-gray cocoon he knew all too well.

Screaming, Tyranitar hopped around the room. He couldn't believe Jirachi had been able to reverse his evolution!

The other campers watched, half in amusement and half in confusion, as Tyranitar suddenly ran around the room screaming at the top of his lungs.

"You're getting good at these illusions," Diancie complimented Jirachi.

"Thanks," the host said, grinning at her. "I think I've had my fun." He snapped his fingers and the illusion wore off. Tyranitar realized he still had the same body.

Tyranitar went red as he walked back into the crowd. Reuniclus and Clauncher were cracking up at how he had reacted, while Beedrill couldn't stifle his laughter. Mienshao rolled her eyes at them.

"No points for Tyranitar...he seemed pretty scared," Jirachi decided. "Now who's next?"

A timer rang on the table next to Jirachi. "Oh! That means Seviper is done," he remembered. He snapped his fingers and Seviper appeared next to him.

Seviper shivered and slithered back into the crowd with wide eyes. "Never again," she muttered to herself. Minun and Lopunny cast worried looks at her.

 **-static-**

" **I couldn't presss the button to end it," Seviper said. "I had to wait...alone...at sssea...for ssso long…"**

 **-static-**

"Seems like I've mentally scarred Seviper...I suppose that fills today's quota," said Jirachi jokingly. "Anyways, we'll have Cryogonal go next!"

Cryogonal floated up and faced Jirachi. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked plainly.

Jirachi smirked. "You're afraid of getting stuck in a desert, aren't you?" Cryogonal swallowed nervously at these words. "That's what I thought!" Jirachi teleported them both to the desert.

"Man, we're getting a lot of use out of this desert today," Jirachi realized. "Anyways, you have to stay here for three minutes to complete your fear!"

"I can't! I'll melt!" Cryogonal pleaded. "That's why I'm afraid of being stuck out here!"

"I can't really blame you for that, but you won't earn any points," Jirachi said. "Are you sure you want to go back?"

"Yeah," Cryogonal said. He could feel the sun's rays beating down on him already. "Take me back."

Cryogonal and Jirachi appeared back in the multi-purpose building moments later. Cryogonal floated over next to Dusclops, looking rather disappointed.

"Mienshao, we'll have you go next!" Jirachi called. "Only a few are left, and the scores are tied! This is intense."

Mienshao strolled forward and faced Diancie. "What am I to do to win?" she asked.

"You have to ride a rollercoaster, since you're afraid of those," Diancie said. "One ride and you pass."

Jirachi teleported Mienshao outside, where a rollercoaster (somehow) was already waiting for them. Mienshao examined it closely to see that the track seemed rather unstable, not to mention the hills were extremely high.

"I don't think I can do it," she muttered.

"Quitting already? You guys suck," Jirachi said, frowning. He teleported her back inside. "We have another quitter, Diancie."

Diancie shook her head at Mienshao and pulled another name out. "Liepard!" she called. "We'll have you go next."

"Sure. I'd rather get this over with than wait any longer," Liepard said, willingly accepting her challenge.

"You're a germophobe," Diancie said. "So we're going to have you jump into…"

Jirachi grabbed Liepard and teleported her onto a diving board high above a pool of an unknown green liquid. "...the pool of slime!" Jirachi finished.

Liepard blanched. "I'll pass," she squeaked.

Jirachi snickered and teleported her back. "Keyboard Cat turned out to be a chicken, too," he said. Castform started laughing uncontrollably in the crowd, earning a harsh glare from Liepard.

"Minun!" Diancie called. Minun raced forward and faced Diancie readily. "You're afraid of the dark! You have to spend four minutes underground to pass."

"Underground?" Minun asked. Jirachi teleported her to a small enclosed space underground. The only light came from a small hole leading up to the surface.

"The only way out is by pressing your button," Jirachi said. "I'll be back in four minutes if you don't press it!"

One minute passed. Minun began hyperventilating. The space seemed to grow smaller and smaller around her...of course, it wasn't any smaller than before, but she felt trapped. She began mashing the button rapidly with one hand.

Jirachi reappeared, looking worn out. "I swear this is at least the fifteenth time I've had to teleport back and forth because you guys all chicken out," he grunted.

 **-static-**

 **Minun rubbed her head in the confessional awkwardly. "Not only did that make me more afraid of the dark, but I think I'm officially claustrophobic," she admitted.**

 **-static-**

After Minun, only Scrafty, Escavalier, and Torchic hadn't faced their fears. Jirachi pulled a piece of paper out of the hat and read the name. "Escavalier," he said.

"I'M READIER THAN A SNORLAX THAT'S BEEN WAITING IN LINE FOR A MEAL FOR ELEVEN CONSECUTIVE HOURS!" Escavalier shouted, charging to the front of the room.

Jirachi hid his hands behind his back. "You are afraid of...TRIANGLES!" he shouted, holding out a cardboard triangle all of a sudden.

Escavalier shrieked and punched a hole in the triangle. "TRIANGLES ARE THE DEMON'S SHAPE!" she screamed. "BURN IT!"

Jirachi shrugged and placed the triangle that now had a gaping hole on the table behind him. "You failed," he said. "Meaning only Torchic and Scrafty remain. The teams are still tied."

Scrafty and Torchic turned to face each other. Scrafty cracked a grin and Torchic shuddered in place.

"How about Torchic goes first?" Jirachi suggested. "I don't think he'll face his fear, so we'll save the more exciting one for last."

Torchic hung his head at Jirachi's stinging remark, but he marched forward anyway to meet his fate. Jirachi frowned at him. "You have a fear of rejection, Torchic," Jirachi said. "Losing your friends makes you afraid."

Torchic felt lightheaded for a moment, and then the next moment Swinub appeared next to him. "S-Swinub?" he asked.

Swinub shook his head at Torchic. "What are you doing, Torchic?" Swinub asked. His tone was harsh, and he glared at Torchic. "After all that training I gave you, you STILL haven't evolved! You're still the same coward you were when I met you!"

Torchic shrank back, and Swinub continued his onslaught. "You're afraid of everything!" Swinub shouted. "Somebody like you doesn't even stand a chance of winning this show! Just give up now and save yourself the embarrassment. Everyone here is stronger than you. You're nothing."

Torchic held back tears with difficulty. Everything Swinub had said was true...he really _was_ still a coward. But then Torchic realized something...the only thing holding him back was himself. He wasn't becoming any stronger because he didn't think he could be. Because he didn't try.

"No," Torchic said firmly, facing Swinub again. "A real friend would never say that. You're not the real Swinub!" he shouted. "I'm tired of being afraid of everything! I can be strong if I try! I'll...I'll prove it!"

Torchic began to glow. Everyone in the room watched in awe as Torchic's form grew bigger and bigger. He became taller, with yellow feathers covering most of his body and stronger talons emerging on his newly formed arms.

The fake Swinub vanished as Jirachi ended the illusion. Jirachi seemed just as stunned as the campers. "That was...uh…" Jirachi was at a loss for words. "You passed, Combusken."

Torchic, who was now a Combusken, turned to face the hosts with newfound confidence. "I know," he said. "I'm not afraid anymore."

Combusken walked back into the crowd, where he received high-fives from Clauncher and Reuniclus and admiring looks from others.

 **-static-**

" **The best thing is, I don't even have that stutter anymore!" Combusken said excitedly. "This is the best day of my whole life! I can finally prove to everyone that I'm not just some scared little chicken!"**

 **-static-**

"With Combusken's victory, Scrafty now must pass his fear to tie the challenge!" Jirachi announced. "This is looking to be a tough comeback!"

Scrafty sighed and walked to the front. "What's the challenge?" he asked. "Let's get this over with."

"You already know what your fear is," said Jirachi seriously. "I'll just get to work."

The campers watched as Jirachi began to play out an illusion for Scrafty. They turned their attention to the monitor up front to see if they could find out what was happening in his head.

Suddenly, the monitor went black. Diancie frowned and tapped a few buttons on her remote. "Darn it," she muttered. "The power's out."

Meanwhile, Scrafty began to twitch wildly. His eyes were shut tight and he was muttering under his breath. "No...no...no!" he shouted, each word getting progressively louder.

The hosts seemed a bit spooked. Jirachi had no idea what was going on in Scrafty's head. Scrafty gasped, and his eyes shot wide open. "I can't do it," he said, panting heavily.

"Well, uh...I guess you've failed?" Jirachi said uncertainly. "I'm going to have to hand this victory to the Great Gastrodons!"

The Gastrodons cheered, and Scrafty rejoined his team of unhappy Milotics. Mawile noticed that Scrafty distanced himself from the rest of the team. He seemed to still be trying to sort out what had just happened.

"Marvelous Milotics, I'll be expecting you at the campfire tonight!" Jirachi said gleefully. He teleported out of the building with Diancie.

 **-static-**

"Are you okay after that challenge?" Beedrill asked Minun. He had his arm wrapped around her as the campers walked back to their cabins.

"Yeah. At least I didn't get lit on fire," Minun said, gesturing to Lilligant. The Flowering Pokémon walked into her cabin door with a thud before realizing it was closed. She opened the door and then walked inside.

Beedrill waved to Minun as she followed Lilligant inside. He walked up the steps to the male Gastrodons' cabin. Several other guys were already inside. Reuniclus was setting his shovel behind his bed as Beedrill walked in.

"You kept that shovel?" Beedrill asked quizzically.

Reuniclus shrugged. "Just in case."

 **-static-**

"Now what do we have here?" Jirachi asked to nobody in particular. "Fourteen losers, if I'm not mistaken!"

The Marvelous Milotics were all gathered at the campfire pit, most of them glaring at Jirachi. "Can ya just skip ta the part where one of us goes home?" Chatot asked.

"No, I cannot. You see, I love suspense, Chatot," Jirachi explained. "Now, you've all just placed your votes. I shall pass out Pokéblocks to those of you that are staying."

Diancie set the box of votes down next to Jirachi, who tallied them up. "This should be interesting," Jirachi said. "After all, you haven't lost anyone since Boldore."

Cryogonal looked away at this. Dusclops gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "The first Pokéblock goes to Cryogonal!" Jirachi called. Cryogonal smiled briefly at Dusclops and went to claim his Pokéblock.

"The next one to be safe is Mawile!" called Jirachi. Mawile smiled confidently and took her Pokéblock before sitting down. "Also safe are Jolteon, Dusclops, and Baltoy!"

Jolteon cracked a grin and took his without hesitation. Dusclops took his seat next to Cryogonal again after claiming his. Baltoy glared at Jirachi the whole time, but took a Pokéblock anyway.

"Castform, Azurill, Liepard, and Noivern," Jirachi called. "Those of you remaining all received at least one vote."

Chatot, Druddigon, Escavalier, Scrafty, and Chandelure still had not received Pokéblocks. "However, Chandelure received the fewest, and is safe," Jirachi stated. Chandelure took her Pokéblock wordlessly.

"Druddigon and Chatot, you each received the same amount of votes. You're both also safe tonight," Jirachi said, tossing them each a Pokéblock. "Now that leaves us with Scrafty and Escavalier."

Escavalier was sharpening her lances vigorously while Scrafty lit a cigarette. "Any last words, you two?" asked Jirachi, grinning.

 **-static-**

" **I won't be surprised if I go home," Scrafty sighed. "I haven't been the biggest help to my team, and I know a lot of them don't like me regardless. They wouldn't understand what I went through today."**

 **-static-**

 **Escavalier's left eye twitched. "THERE IS MUCH TO BE DONE, BUT I FEAR THE TIME FOR DOING IS GROWING VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY QUITE SMALL."**

 **-static-**

"The last Pokéblock goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Scrafty," Jirachi finished, tossing the Pokéblock to the lizard. Scrafty looked up in surprise and caught it with one hand.

Escavalier, on the other hand, looked as if she might stab something. "I HAVE BEEN BETRAYED!" she roared. "WHO DARES TO ELIMINATE ME?"

Her gaze fell upon Druddigon. "We had a deal," she hissed quietly. She turned away quickly and charging toward the dock. "I MUST CATCH MY BOAT, IT'S TIME TO ENJOY LOSERDOM."

Escavalier climbed aboard her boat and screamed unintelligible bits of dialogue every now and then until she disappeared into the distance. Druddigon watched the other campers carefully; he didn't think any of them had noticed when Escavalier had looked to him.

Little did he know, Chandelure was scrutinizing Druddigon at that very moment.

 **-static-**

" **I struck a deal with Escavalier several challenges back," Druddigon said. "We were to vote together to maintain power. Convincing her wasn't hard; I just had to promise her world domination and a bunch of other nonsense."**

" **I knew she wouldn't last long, but it is unfortunate that she left this early," Druddigon sighed. "She was my only ally."**

 **-static-**

" **WAHAHA! Don't think this is the last you'll see of me!" Escavalier said, smiling for absolutely no reason. "I might be out of the contest, BUT I'VE GOT FIVE MINIVANS FULL OF PLANS TO WIN MONEY ANYWAY!"**

" **I THINK AZURILL OR DRUDDIGON COULD WIN-BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I TRUST THE GARGOYLE MAN ANYMORE. I LOST BECAUSE HE COULDN'T KEEP ME IN!" Escavalier shouted. "WHAT A LOSER! UZIVDVOO, RHOZMW!"**

 **-static-**

"Well, that's a relief," said Mawile, watching the boat carrying Escavalier grow more distant. Most of the Milotics had left by now, but Mawile and Scrafty remained at the dock.

"What, having Escavalier gone?" Scrafty asked.

Mawile nodded. "Yeah. Finally, I can have the bunk to myself!"

"What about the fact that I'm still in?" Scrafty asked. "I almost got sent home today."

Mawile smiled at him. "I'm glad you stayed," she said.

* * *

Next time I take twenty-two days to write something like this, somebody please talk some sense into me. This was hell to write.

This chapter has officially broken the record of being my longest chapter yet. Despite the difficulty I had in writing it, I think it turned out well! I'll obviously let the readers decide, since your opinions are important, but this was one of my favorite chapters yet.

Also, please don't kill me for eliminating Escavalier. She ended up becoming more popular than I had ever imagined and I didn't want people to get attached to her because she was supposed to get out early. ;-;

But that's okay, because I liked Escavalier more than I had intended, too. She rose from my least favorite character in the beginning to being in my top four! Fun fact: she was originally going to get out in the talent show, but she had enough fan support that I prolonged her stay.

Unfortunately, I couldn't keep her forever-it would be unrealistic for her team to allow her to stay for much longer after her previous shenanigans. But who's to say she won't return for future seasons…?

That brings me to the good news! I have a prototype season 2 cast picked out, which hopefully makes up for the time it took to release this chapter. I won't say too much about it yet, but I will most likely reveal more as this story goes on to build some hype.

But enough about the second season, we're still on the first! This chapter marks the official halfway point to the merge, and I'm happy to announce that this story has exceeded one thousand views already! Thanks so much to my readers, you guys are the best.

I'll see you next time!

Escavalier: REVIEW OR I WILL LAUNCH ROCKETS THROUGH YOUR EYES!


	10. Nowhere to Hide

Uh, hi there. I'm sorry for the four month hiatus. You guys probably thought I was dead. Well, I'm not.

If you want something to blame for my absence, blame college. That's the only excuse I have, because to be honest, part of the reason for the lack of updates was my lack of motivation. Now that that's cleared up, this story is back on track.

The latest poll results show Mawile and Chandelure in first, followed by Azurill, Noivern, and Seviper in second, and Combusken, Cryogonal, Baltoy, and Minun all in third. The poll is several months old now, so I'm actually going to be taking it down after this chapter. I might put up another poll at the merge or something like that.

Enough delaying. Have a chapter.

* * *

"Quiet! He'll be coming out any minute now!" Noivern said, trying to quiet Castform and Azurill down. The three of them were camped out behind some bushes by the cafeteria. Noivern held a pair of binoculars that were pointed at the door of the cafeteria to give a better view.

Castform looked doubtful. "I dunno, Noivern, we've been out here twenty minutes and he hasn't shown up."

"He'll be out soon, I know it," Noivern assured her. She peered into the binoculars and saw the door creaking open. "Shhh! He's coming out!"

As Jirachi cracked the cafeteria door open for some fresh air, a bucket of cold water spilled onto his head. Jirachi yelped as the freezing water splashed onto his face. The bucket landed upside down on his head, obscuring his vision.

Noivern roared with laughter as Jirachi struggled to pull the bucket off of his head. "Hey! Who's laughing?" Jirachi shouted, though his voice was muffled by the bucket.

Azurill couldn't help but laugh with Noivern. "That was hilarious!" she said. "Where'd you get the idea to prank Jirachi like that?"

"Hey, if he wants to shoot me with a bunch of freezing water, I'm more than happy to return the favor," replied Noivern, grinning mischievously.

Castform let out a short chuckle. "You're not at all like who I'd expected you to be when I first met you, Noivern," she confessed. "In a good way, of course."

"Thanks," said Noivern, punching Castform gently on the side because she didn't have a shoulder to punch gently. "You too."

"Guys, we should probably go. Jirachi's gonna pull that bucket off real soon and I don't want to be here when he does," Azurill warned her friends. She began bouncing off into the woods as the bucket came off of Jirachi's head with a loud popping sound.

Noivern and Castform ducked behind the bushes as Jirachi cast wary glances around. "Don't think I won't find out who did this!" he threatened. "I have security cameras, you know!"

 **-static-**

" **Totally worth it," snickered Noivern. "Man, the look on his face…"**

 **-static-**

Chandelure was sitting out in the center of camp, enjoying the sunny weather while reading her brother's novel. Druddigon came marching back into camp from the woods and caught a glimpse of the chandelier sitting alone. He turned to face her and called out.

"Chandelure," he called, getting her attention. Chandelure's gaze lifted from the book and lazily focused on Druddigon. "I think you and I should have a talk."

"I was thinking the same thing," Chandelure replied calmly, closing the book and floating over to Druddigon. "We should go somewhere more private."

Druddigon nodded and motioned for her to follow him. He led her into the woods and past a clearing that contained several logs. Chandelure spotted several empty bags of chips and couldn't help but wonder who else had been in the woods.

Finally, they stopped behind a large rock that obscured their hiding place from plain sight. "We should be able to talk here without being interrupted," Druddigon finally said. "You mentioned that you wanted to talk as well, so I'll let you speak first."

"How kind of you," drawled Chandelure sarcastically. "First things first–what was your involvement with Escavalier?"

Druddigon furrowed his brow in thought. Evidently Chandelure had caught that slip-up from Escavalier, and it was clear to Druddigon that she wasn't going to drop it until she got an answer.

"Escavalier and I allied with each other, starting in the seventh challenge when we had to stay awake," Druddigon began. "I proposed a mutually beneficial plan to her and was able to sway her into voting with me. This alliance didn't last long, and she was voted out at the next opportunity, unfortunately."

"That's it?" Chandelure asked, looking unsatisfied.

Druddigon folded his arms. "That's it. I had no plans for keeping Escavalier long-term, but she didn't even get to serve her purpose for one elimination," Druddigon lamented. "Now that I've explained myself, I want to make something clear to you. I'm not your enemy."

Chandelure didn't seem convinced. "You brought me out here just to say that?" asked Chandelure scathingly. "I've had my eye on you for a while, Druddigon, and there's nothing you've done yet to make yourself seem trustworthy."

"I've just been working alone. I haven't done anything wrong," Druddigon informed her. "If you'd like to argue otherwise, go ahead. I'd love to hear what you think I've done to make myself untrustworthy."

"Making alliances in secret is enough," Chandelure stated. "Alliances are threats. They make elimination ceremonies difficult to control."

"Unless you're in one. That's why I'm here," Druddigon said. "I'll get to the point. It's obvious to me that you're working alone–you're rarely ever seen even socializing with the team. I, too, am alone after Escavalier's elimination. I would like to ally with you for the time being."

"You want me to be your next pawn?" Chandelure scoffed. "No thanks. I'll pass."

Druddigon's eyes narrowed. "You know as well as I do that your vote doesn't make a difference right now. Tell me, how many eliminations have you won? Hm?"

Chandelure looked down, scowling. Druddigon smirked. "That's right. You've never been able to determine who the loser will be," he said. "That can change. Two votes are more effective than one, and if we vote alongside the right Pokemon, we can win the majority. I know from experience that a lone vote does no good."

"But why me?" asked Chandelure, looking up. Her tone was no longer hostile, but still suspicious. "We've never been on the best of terms."

"That doesn't matter. We're not becoming friends, we're becoming allies. This is in both of our best interests," Druddigon told her. "I have some information I'm willing to share if you're willing to lend your vote to me."

Chandelure exhaled deeply. "All right. I'll join, but if at any point I feel this alliance is detrimental to my own plans, I'm out. I also want a say in the vote," she stated. "Those are my conditions."

Druddigon put out a hand. "We have a deal, then."

 **-static-**

" **Do I like Chandelure? No. So I definitely don't trust her," Druddigon commented. "But if she's really playing along for now, I might be able to make this alliance work. First, I'll need to take out the larger alliances, like Azurill's, for our votes to be effective."**

 **-static-**

" **Druddigon is definitely planning something. He's clearly not doing this for my benefit; he just wants to further himself in the game," Chandelure stated. "So don't believe for a second that I trust him.**

" **I do, however, acknowledge the fact that our combined vote will be more effective," she remarked. "So I'll work with him for now."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon sat in the center of camp, scratching behind his ear with one paw. He was struggling to figure out who could have nabbed the idol so early in the game, but to no avail.

Vaporeon suddenly returned to camp, drying herself off from her latest trip to the lake. She caught Jolteon's eye as he glanced up, and he immediately looked away, blushing.

"Hey, what's up?" Vaporeon asked, walking over. She seemed oblivious to Jolteon's expression. "What's this?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Jolteon said quickly, scrambling to hide his notebook. Vaporeon watched awkwardly as he tossed it into a bush. "It's nothing."

"Then why'd you throw it in a bush?" Vaporeon asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because of how...unimportant it is?" Jolteon suggested weakly. Vaporeon walked over to the bush and pulled out Jolteon's red notebook, which was covered in thorns. She managed to pry the notebook out without getting scratched.

Jolteon felt his heart sink as Vaporeon opened the notebook. "What's all this?" she said quietly to herself, reading the contents. "You have everyone on the island's names in here. Some of them are even crossed out."

"I was just trying to figure out who had the idol," Jolteon muttered, embarrassed. "I probably got it all wrong, but–"

"Wow, that's actually really neat," Vaporeon commented. Jolteon blinked in surprise. "I wouldn't have even put this much thought into it, but your suspects for who has the idol are all possible. It's kind of scary to think that someone can use that idol at any moment."

Jolteon felt his nerves starting to calm down. "I just did some simple deductions, really," he said. "Whoever's out obviously didn't have it, and there are some Pokémon who rarely leave camp anyway."

Vaporeon smiled and handed the notebook back to Jolteon. "Sorry for prying. I was just curious," she apologized. Jolteon went red in the face, but again she didn't seem to notice. "You can cross my name off that list, by the way. I never found it."

With that, Vaporeon walked back into her cabin. Jolteon opened the notebook again, and with a pencil, scratched Vaporeon's name off the list.

 **-static-**

" **I never paid much attention to Jolteon since he was on the other team, but he seems pretty smart judging by that notebook," Vaporeon said. "Considering I spend most of my time with Lopunny or Minun, I rarely get to talk with the others. Especially the other team."**

 **She smiled for a moment. "And he's kind of cute, too," she admitted. "It's a shame he's on the other team."**

 **-static-**

Seviper glanced up in surprise as Liepard set down her lunch tray on the table and sat down across from Chandelure. Liepard gave Seviper a friendly nod and began eating.

"Sssince when did we eat together?" asked Seviper, looking confused.

Liepard shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have many friends on the Milotics, and I remember talking with you during the seventh challenge. I mainly just want to stay away from _her_ ," Liepard said, narrowing her eyes as Castform floated past.

"You're ssstill mad at Cassstform? What did ssshe do, anyway?" Seviper inquired.

"I'm more afraid of what she has yet to do to me than what she's already done," sighed Liepard. "She's a dangerous Pokemon to have on your team."

Seviper rolled her eyes and continued devouring the salad Diancie had cooked up. An assortment of berries from at least three different regions were included in the salad; Diancie clearly spared no expense on the meals.

"But more importantly, seeing as I'd like us to be on the same page, I want to show you something," Liepard offered. Seviper's interest was renewed as Liepard pulled a calendar out from underneath the table. "Have a look at this."

Seviper slid the calendar across the table and flipped it open using her tail. Inside the calendar was a short list of what she assumed to be challenges. "Where'd you get thisss?" Seviper asked, her eyes wide.

Liepard laughed softly. "Baltoy. I used some scare tactics and he coughed this up. It's useful, isn't it?" she asked with a smile. "All the challenges up until the merge."

"And you're ssshowing thisss to me _why?_ " Seviper asked warily, her tone uncertain.

"We might not be able to work together now, but what's stopping us from making a post-merge alliance?" Liepard replied. "Why not get an early start? If we can help each other starting now, that increases our odds a lot! Doesn't it?"

Seviper thought about it for a while and concluded that Liepard was actually offering help, no strings attached. "Well, okay," Seviper said, a bit doubtfully. "Knowing the challengesss helpsss a lot. And today'sss challenge…"

"Is pretty simple, actually," Liepard finished. "Which is why I was hoping I could tell you so you could be prepared."

"At leassst we don't have to face our worst fearsss again," Seviper muttered. She slid the calendar back to Liepard. "Mossst of thessse ssseem pretty ssstraightforward. Hopefully they're as easssy as they look."

Liepard picked up the calendar and nodded to Seviper. "Good luck out there today," she said. The Dark-type left the table and exited through the cafeteria doors. Seviper ate some more salad absentmindedly.

 **-static-**

Cryogonal, Dusclops, Tyranitar, Beedrill, and Minun were gathered around a different table in the cafeteria. Tyranitar was chowing down noisily on a taco while Beedrill cracked a few jokes to Minun, who laughed at each of them. Cryogonal and Dusclops were chatting to each other about plans for the next challenge.

"I know it's not what we want to discuss right now, but we really should decide who to vote off if we lose," Cryogonal said. "Escavalier was a wild card, but she was still an asset to the team. I'm not convinced losing her yet was the right move."

"There's nothing you can really do about that, man. She's gone," Dusclops pointed out. "We can't bring her back, so let's focus on who we have left."

"Right. Mawile's with us now, so we obviously want to keep her in," Cryogonal said, trying to think of each of his teammates. "I'd personally love to get Chandelure off the island sooner rather than later, since she knows about our alliance...not to mention that she's kind of a jerk."

"She's...not that bad," Dusclops said, trying to defend her but failing miserably. Cryogonal raised an eyebrow. "Okay, okay, so she's a bit hostile! She just has trust issues, I'm sure."

"My point is that the trust issues go both ways. I don't exactly trust Chandelure, either," Cryogonal told Dusclops. "Now I've noticed Chatot and Jolteon hang around each other a lot. They probably work together, but I see no reason to vote either of them off just yet."

"Scrafty's not very useful," Dusclops suggested. "Maybe we could vote him off next!"

"You have a point, but we have to think long term. Scrafty's not useful, but is he a threat?" Cryogonal asked. "Tell me who you'd rather face in the finals: Chandelure or Scrafty?"

"Point taken...we should keep some of the weaker players around. Gotcha," Dusclops agreed. "But I still say we should give Chandelure a chance. I don't think she's that bad."

"Let's put Chandelure aside right now. Speaking of weak players, Baltoy hasn't done much for us," Cryogonal said. "I'm fairly sure he has more brains than Scrafty does, so we'll still want to be careful around him."

"Druddigon's probably our strongest guy right now," Dusclops said. "So I assume we'll keep him?"

"Until the merge. Druddigon is great to have on a team, but he's not somebody I want as an enemy," Cryogonal said. "We should try to get rid of him as the merge approaches."

"Noivern seems pretty popular on our team right now," Dusclops said. "Azurill and Castform hang around her a lot, so she's probably running three votes against ours."

"So we're on even ground. I don't see any of them as threats," Cryogonal told Dusclops. "None of them are...I don't mean to offend them, but they're not exactly the brains of this team _or_ the brawn. As long as they don't hold the majority vote, they're really pretty harmless."

"That leaves Liepard. Any thoughts on her?" asked Dusclops, rubbing his hand awkwardly.

"I don't feel either way about her. She's not a threat, but she's not a weak player. She's honestly safe for most of the game—not a threat and not in a big alliance, but not weak enough for our team to vote for her. I'd say she'll make it far," Cryogonal predicted.

"So now that we've analyzed our whole team, do you have any choices made?" Dusclops asked.

"Yes, but of course I'd like your input as well," Cryogonal said. "I think it should be Chandelure. You probably figured I'd say that, but look at the facts! She's the logical choice."

Dusclops scratches his head uncomfortably. "Well...okay. You haven't led me wrong yet," Dusclops agreed reluctantly. "You're probably right."

"CAMPERS!"

"Ah!" Minun screamed, jumping at the sound of Jirachi suddenly shouting through the intercom. Beedrill stifled a laugh.

"We're starting your challenge pretty late today, but you'll have plenty of time anyway, so don't worry about that! Meet by the edge of the woods!" Jirachi ordered.

"Guess it's time for our challenge," Tyranitar said, shoving the last of the taco in his mouth. "You guys ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Beedrill said. He put his arm around Minun. "The real question is, are you ready, jumpy?"

"Shut up," Minun groaned, her face flushing. She walked toward the doors with Tyranitar and Beedrill following, the latter chuckling softly.

"We should get going," Cryogonal told Dusclops. "Come on."

 **-static-**

Combusken was the first to arrive at the woods, where Jirachi and Diancie were already patiently awaiting the campers. Diancie motioned for him to wait in the clearing for others to arrive.

"So, uh...what's the challenge?" asked Combusken hesitantly.

"We're waiting for the others to show up before making an announcement," Diancie said.

"Oh," said Combusken. "All right, then."

Jirachi moved closer to the co-host. "I bet it was Baltoy. He and I never got along," he muttered to Diancie.

"Will you quit talking about that stupid prank? It was probably just the interns having some fun!" Diancie hissed at him. "Seriously. I don't want to hear about it."

"The interns?" Jirachi repeated, raising an eyebrow. "No, dumping a bucket on my head isn't their style. They'd be more obvious to get a reaction out of me."

"...Should I ask?" Combusken asked, reminding the hosts he was still there. Jirachi and Diancie stared at him blankly.

"Um, no," Jirachi said after an awkward pause.

 **-static-**

Once the rest of the contestants had shown up, Jirachi began his explanation. "Okay! So since the last two challenges weren't very active, we're doing something a lot more physical today! It's a classic game you all should know!"

Jirachi enthusiastically clapped his hands together. "It's time for HIDE AND SEEK!" he announced.

Silence. Then Reuniclus spoke up. "After we faced our worst fears, all we have to do is play hide and seek?"

"Are you actually complaining?" Jirachi groaned. "I try to give you guys a break and you don't even appreciate it! Ungrateful little—"

"Calm down," said Diancie, putting a hand on Jirachi's shoulder. She faced the campers. "Yes, all you have to do is play hide and seek. However, it's not going to be that easy. Jirachi and I will be doing the seeking, and we're giving all of you ten minutes to hide."

"So what are the rules? I'm assuming if you find us, we are out," Mienshao said.

"That's the first rule," Diancie answered. "The rules are simple enough that they shouldn't require much explaining. If Jirachi or I finds you, you are out of the challenge and you must wait in camp."

"If you realize that we're nearby, you're allowed to leave your hiding spot at any time to find a new one!" Jirachi added. "But bear in mind that if we catch you, you're out! So if you're feeling like playing risky today, go for it."

"Once a team has all of its members found, it loses. The losing team will vote out a teammate, as usual," Diancie concluded. "Questions?"

"You mentioned that we have ten minutes to hide, but are there any restrictions on where we can hide?" Lopunny asked.

"You're not allowed to leave within a two mile radius of camp," Jirachi told her. "So that gives you plenty of hiding places in camp, the forest, even the tunnels if you can get there in time."

"Winning a game of hide and seek doesn't seem too hard. Surely there's a twist," Castform prompted.

"Trust me, we know how to make this interesting," Jirachi chuckled. "Today we're getting some help from my friend again! I'm sure everyone remembers Thundurus."

Jirachi snapped his fingers and the Electric-type genie appeared before the campers. "Howdy," he said, waving a hand. Many of the campers were caught off guard by his friendly demeanor this time around.

"I'm hesitant ta ask, but how exactly is he gonna make this 'interesting?'" Chatot asked reluctantly.

"Thundurus felt unfulfilled after his short stay during the race," Jirachi said. "Can't say I blame him! So this time around, he's here to finish the job. Thundurus is playing offense today! Meaning if he finds you, not only are you out, but there's a good chance he'll try to attack you first!"

Thundurus' expression changed to one of sadistic glee. "So you runts better RUN," he cackled. Lilligant and Noivern exchanged a nervous glance.

Diancie pulled out a stopwatch. "You have ten minutes to roam freely and find a hiding spot before we begin searching for you," she announced. "I'm starting the timer now."

The campers quickly scattered, many of them retreating into the woods or fleeing back into camp.

 **-static-**

" **This was kind of a random challenge, if you ask me," Clauncher said, tapping his claw on the seat. "There were hardly any rules and it was basically a free-for-all. It's a good thing I teamed up with some of the others or I'd be bored out of my mind waiting for the hosts to find me."**

 **Clauncher tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Although maybe it wasn't such a great idea...hiding in groups is probably a bad idea when the goal is to NOT get caught."**

 **-static-**

"You got any plans?" Jolteon shouted to Chatot as they fled. "I don't want to get zapped by Thundurus, so–"

"Jolteon, you're an Electric-type," Chatot reminded him flatly. "I'M the one who should be worried. And mah plan is ta get ta the tunnels. The hosts will have trouble findin' us in there."

Jolteon swallowed nervously. "The tunnels? Why do we have to do the tunnels?"

"What, are ya tellin' me yer afraid o' the dark now?" Chatot snorted. "The tunnels will conceal us, that's why. Now hurry up!"

Jolteon reluctantly followed after Chatot as they headed toward the mountainous region of the island. He thought he saw Scrafty climbing a tree out of the corner of his eye. Hopefully the hosts wouldn't think to look up into a tree.

 **-static-**

Dusclops and Cryogonal were back in camp. "All right, I have this one in the bag," Dusclops told Cryogonal. "So, uh...good luck, I guess?"

Dusclops vanished a second later, leaving Cryogonal alone in the middle of camp.

 **-static-**

" **Turning invisible is a nice perk of being a ghost," Dusclops said, grinning. "And we've got Chandelure on our side, too! There's almost no way we'll lose this time."**

 **-static-**

"Dusclops?" Cryogonal called hopefully. He got no reply. "Well, this sucks. Now I have to find my own hiding place. I can't just turn invisible to win, unfortunately. I'll have to rely on strategy again."

Cryogonal pondered his options for a moment. Then he finally decided on a spot.

"If they think to check back here, I'll definitely get caught," Cryogonal sighed, closing himself in the cafeteria's freezer. "I have to hope they won't think of this."

 **-static-**

Lilligant was digging a hole in the forest. She wiped away several beads of sweat and kept up the hard work. After minutes of nonstop digging, the hole was big enough for her to fit in. She hopped into the hole and began to cover herself with dirt.

When she was finished, her head blended in with the greenery, making her look just like another flower.

 **-static-**

"Wheeeeee!" Castform exclaimed gleefully, shooting into the air. "I can just hide up here, disguised with the clouds!

"Actually, hold on a sec. They've got Thundurus, and he can fly," she realized. "Plus we're only allowed in a two mile radius from camp, meaning I can't go too high. Maybe I should just hide in the cabin."

Shrugging, Castform floated back down and went into the female Milotics' cabin. Liepard was already hiding inside.

"Uh...hi," Liepard said awkwardly.

Castform grinned. "Well, well, if it isn't Keyboard Cat! Wanna hear some jokes?"

"SOMEBODY HELP ME."

 **-static-**

" **Being stuck with her outside of the challenges is bad enough," said Liepard, looking weary. "Being stuck with her inside a cabin for an entire challenge is much, much worse. I couldn't even escape."**

 **-static-**

Tyranitar was in the mountains. He picked up a few boulders and started stacking them in front of himself.

 **-static-**

" **There's not a whole lot you can do to hide when you're as big as I am," Tyranitar said sheepishly.**

 **-static-**

Vaporeon and Lopunny raced down to the lake. Vaporeon immediately dove underwater and began scouting out places to hide. Lopunny watched her swim away wistfully, wondering where she could hide nearby.

Vaporeon's head popped up out of the water. "Lopunny! There's a small space in between those bushes over there!" she called out. Lopunny looked over to see two thick bushes close together, with a small enclosed space in between as Vaporeon had described. "Go hide in there!"

Lopunny nodded. "Thanks!" she called back. She jogged over to the bushes and crammed herself in between. It was a tight fit, but she was relatively concealed.

Vaporeon returned underwater and swam deeper until she came across one of the underwater caves in the lake. She had remembered them from the first challenge, and they made for good hiding places.

Vaporeon entered the cave and hid inside. The hosts couldn't breathe underwater, so they wouldn't find her all the way down here...hopefully.

 **-static-**

Reuniclus opened the door to the rec room. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," he sighed. He crawled onto the floor and slid underneath the pool table.

 **-static-**

Beedrill flew across the island until he was above the mountainous region. It was technically within the two mile radius, so anything in the region was fair game. Beedrill angled his body downward and flew into the ravine.

"They'll have some difficulty finding me down here," he said with a smirk.

 **-static-**

"I don't know where to hide!" panicked Combusken. He looked around the camp frantically. Jirachi and Diancie were watching him with amused expressions–he'd been standing there paralyzed with fear for two minutes.

"You only have ten minutes to hide, you know," Diancie reminded Combusken from afar.

"Eight minutes left, buddy!" Jirachi added. "Get a move on, or Thundurus will whip us up some fried chicken!"

Combusken yelped and sped off as far as he could upon hearing this. Jirachi cackled with laughter. "Man, he hasn't changed a bit," said Jirachi, wiping a tear from his eye. "He's just an even bigger chicken." Diancie rolled her eyes.

 **-static-**

Noivern arrived at the tunnels. After considering her options, this was her best shot at staying safe–she had good night vision and would be able to navigate through the tunnels easily, despite how dark they were.

She wandered through the tunnels until she found a space big enough to fit into. As she was about to climb inside, she brushed against a feathered object.

"This spot's taken," came Chatot's raspy voice. Noivern laughed awkwardly and pushed herself back out of the space.

 **-static-**

"Check the stopwatch," Jirachi said. Diancie glanced down and showed it to the host. "Nine minutes and forty-nine seconds elapsed...the campers should all be hidden by now."

Diancie handed him the megaphone and covered her ears. Jirachi turned the megaphone on and grinned. "ALL RIGHT, CAMPERS, LISTEN UP!" he shouted at a deafening volume. "YOU'VE HAD YOUR TIME TO RUN AWAY, SO NOW IT'S TIME FOR OUR PART! I HOPE YOU PICKED A GOOD HIDING PLACE, BECAUSE IF YOU DIDN'T, YOU MIGHT BE IN FOR...A SHOCK!"

Jirachi turned off the megaphone and broke into a fit of giggles. "Get it? Shock? Because we're having Thundurus...oh, man, and I came up with that one on the spot, too!" Jirachi laughed. Diancie groaned loudly.

Thundurus shook his head. "I regret agreeing to help you," he sighed.

Jirachi waved a wad of cash in his face. "I think this speaks for itself," he said, grinning.

Thundurus plucked the money from Jirachi's hand, and his face lit up in excitement once more. "Pleasure doing business. You should invite me more often!" he said happily, shooting upward into the sky.

"So here's the deal," Jirachi said to Diancie. He handed her a walkie-talkie. "Thundurus has one of these, too. If you spot a camper, you hail him and he'll come over and zap 'em. We can both cover more ground if we split up, so ta-ta for now!"

Jirachi clapped his hands and disappeared in an instant. Diancie slid some goggles onto her eyes and cracked her knuckles. "Let's get down to business," she muttered. "I wonder where everyone's hiding…"

Diancie entered the campgrounds and took a quick look around. She noticed Dusclops in the center of camp, tapping his fingers on one of his legs impatiently. He didn't even seem to care that Diancie was right there.

"Uh, Dusclops, you know I can see you, right?" Diancie called out. Dusclops glanced up in shock.

"Wait, what? But I'm invisible!" he complained. "There's no way! Are you cheating somehow?"

Diancie slid the goggles off and Dusclops was no longer visible. "You don't have to stay invisible anymore," she said. Dusclops reappeared, looking disgruntled. "And since turning invisible pretty much ruins the point of hide and seek, I'm using these," she added, showing Dusclops the goggles.

"What ARE these?" Dusclops asked, picking them up in his hands.

"Silph Scopes," she explained. "They make ghosts visible, and now they contain an X-ray feature as well." She turned to face the camera. "You can find them in stores for the discount price of $19.99 today! Look for Silph Scopes in stores near you!"

Dusclops stared blankly at her. "What are you doing?"

Diancie shrugged and slipped the goggles back on. "We get paid for things like that."

"Then I guess there's no need for me to prolong the inevitable," a new voice said from behind the co-host. Diancie swiveled around in surprise to see Chandelure. "Hi."

"Um...you're out?" Diancie said in questioning tone.

Chandelure seemed unfazed. "I didn't have a hiding place anyway."

"You know what? Jirachi didn't prepare you guys for this very well," said Diancie, putting her hands on her hips. "You're both still out, but I'm giving you immunity tonight. You would have won if I hadn't brought the Silph Scopes."

Dusclops grinned and looked at Chandelure. "Hey, sweet! We both get to live another today!" he said to the other ghost enthusiastically.

Chandelure returned Dusclops' look emotionlessly. "Wonderful," she said without any inflection.

 **-static-**

" **I might not like Jirachi, but I take back anything I might have said about Diancie," Dusclops said. "She's not so bad."**

 **-static-**

Combusken walked into the forest hesitantly. He didn't venture out of camp often, so he had no way of knowing what awaited him in the woods. He brushed a few tree branches out of his way and stepped over protruding roots as he went deeper.

Loud hooting from the trees nearly made Combusken jump. He glanced up warily, but saw nobody there. He continued on, but something felt wrong.

Combusken looked behind him to make sure he wasn't being followed. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that there was nobody. He turned back around and decided to keep going.

Until he saw a spooky one-eyed tree standing over him.

Combusken shrieked loudly and ran the other direction. Noctowl flew down from the trees and high-fived Trevenant. "Nice work with the distraction," Trevenant rumbled, chuckling.

"You know it, Twigs!" Noctowl hooted, grinning crazily. "Scarin' these campers is practically our job!"

"Don't call me Twigs," Trevenant said, folding his arms. Noctowl rolled her eyes.

Shiftry stepped out of the bushes, eating a Pecha Berry. "Actually, our job is to _not_ mess with the competition," he reminded Noctowl. "Seriously, Jirachi's going to kill us if he finds out."

"Since when did having a little fun get anyone killed?" Noctowl said, shaking her head. "It's our forest, anyway! We can do what we want!"

"Hell yeah!" agreed Trevenant. He bumped fists with Noctowl. Shiftry shook his head in dismay.

From his hiding spot in the trees above, Scrafty watched the unfolding events with a look of utter confusion.

 **-static-**

" **So basically, there's a bunch of weird forest freaks running around and scaring us?" Scrafty said uncertainly. "That's all I can figure. Well, it's not the weirdest thing I've seen on this island."**

 **He shuddered. "Escavalier has done some...unspeakable things."**

 **-static-**

Combusken ran out of the woods, screaming loudly. Jirachi noticed him pretty quickly and lifted his walkie-talkie to speak into it.

"Thundurus, we've got a runner. I repeat, we have a runner," Jirachi relayed to Thundurus. "You have orders to fry the chicken."

A massive thunderbolt from above struck Combusken. He fell unconscious immediately. Jirachi smirked in satisfaction.

 **-static-**

"THE MILOTICS ARE CURRENTLY LEADING BY ONE MEMBER!" Jirachi announced over the intercom. "IT'S STILL ANYONE'S GAME."

Mienshao, who was hiding underneath the dock, groaned uncomfortably. She was having difficulty staying underwater for so long. She would have preferred a hiding spot on land, but the space underneath the dock was well hidden.

She took a deep breath and put her head back underwater. She'd just have to wait out the Milotics a little longer.

 **-static-**

Diancie gently opened the door to the male Milotics' cabin. The inside was empty, as she predicted. The cabins were obvious hiding places, but as such they were easy to discover.

She opened the door to the female Milotics' cabin next. She didn't see anyone at first, and she was about to leave when she heard a sneeze.

Diancie peeked underneath the beds and saw Castform and Liepard hiding there. Liepard was wiping her nose with one paw. "Stupid dust," she whispered.

Diancie jerked her thumb toward the door. "You're out," she said. Liepard sighed in defeat.

Castform popped out from underneath the bed energetically. "Well, we had a good run! Guess it's up to the others," she said. "I wonder who else is out."

As Castform and Liepard left the cabin, they saw Dusclops, Combusken, and Chandelure already sitting in the center of camp.

"Okay, Dusclops and Combusken I expected to get out, but you too, Chandelure?" Liepard asked.

"I see you didn't fare much better," Chandelure countered. Liepard rolled her eyes and sat down beside Dusclops, who looked slightly offended by the cat's last comment.

"I guess we just have to wait for the others to lose," Castform said glumly. She brightened up quickly after that. "Who wants to hear a joke?"

Dusclops raised a hand, grinning. He turned around to see Liepard and Chandelure glaring at him. His smile faltered and he put his hand down.

"Sheesh, tough crowd," Castform muttered.

 **-static-**

"I can see you up there," Jirachi called as he levitated through the forest.

"Damn," Scrafty swore. He hopped out of the tree and began walking towards camp, lighting a cigarette on the way. "Least I don't have to worry about smoke revealing my location anymore."

"Were you seriously waiting to do that the whole time?" Jirachi asked, turning around as Scrafty lit a cigarette.

Scrafty stuck the lit cigarette between his teeth and grinned. "You tell me," he chuckled.

Jirachi looked revolted.

 **-static-**

Druddigon watched as a smoking Scrafty sauntered into camp shortly after Castform and Liepard's elimination from the challenge. The lizard was smoking as usual, and Druddigon was irritated to see him continuing the nasty habit.

Druddigon was hidden behind the corner of the warehouse. He had with him a pair of binoculars, and he was using them to keep tabs on the hosts. If he knew where the hosts were at all times, he wouldn't have to worry as much about them catching him.

Diancie had just left the camp after finding Castform and Liepard, since she probably figured most of the campers had better hiding places than those two. Druddigon had lost track of Jirachi after he had gone into the woods.

The Cave Pokemon grunted in frustration. It was too difficult to keep track of both hosts at the same time, and there was no telling what Thundurus could even be up to.

A light tap on Druddigon's shoulder brought him back to reality. He whirled around to see Thundurus.

"You must be shocked to see me," Thundurus said, cracking a joke. Druddigon was not amused. "No laughter? Not even a smile? Well, I guess it wasn't that funny."

Thundurus shot back a few yards and blasted Druddigon with a Thunderbolt attack. Druddigon fell to his knees, gasping in pain. He felt the paralysis kicking in, and he was too stunned to move.

"Got another one," Thundurus whispered into his walkie-talkie. "How many are left?"

"There are seventeen left," Jirachi's crackling voice said over the walkie-talkie. "Seven Milotics and ten Gastrodons."

"Gotcha," Thundurus replied. He picked up Druddigon with some effort and hauled him into camp.

"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Scrafty chuckled as Thundurus set down a paralyzed Druddigon.

"I hate that expression," Liepard muttered sourly.

"Lighten up, whiskers!" Castform said cheerfully. "We're winning the challenge! So you've got nothing to worry about."

"Actually, we're not," Dusclops pointed out.

Castform looked surprised. "...oh. Well, in that case, feel free to be a wet blanket," she said to Liepard. The Dark-type tried to tune Castform out.

 **-static-**

"Were you even trying?" Diancie asked Baltoy, who had been hiding in front of the hosts' headquarters.

"Not really," Baltoy replied. "There's a few Pokémon on my team that I want to eliminate, anyway."

Diancie shrugged. "To each their own. You're out," she informed him. Baltoy gave her a brief nod of acknowledgment and headed to the center of camp.

 **-static-**

" **I haven't gotten to vote much yet. Three times, actually," Baltoy stated. "There's much more that I can do if my team loses than if my team wins. In particular, I have my sights set on Liepard."**

 **Baltoy scowled at the camera. "She'll regret messing with me. I'll make sure of it."**

 **-static-**

Minun was immensely regretting her decision to hide underneath one of the counters in the kitchen. "Oh Arceus, I hate enclosed spaces," she breathed.

Jirachi cracked the door underneath the counter open. "You don't have to stay in there," he offered. "There's a nice spot waiting for you back at camp. With all the losers!"

Minun crawled out from underneath the counter as quickly as possible and headed outside to meet with the others, not paying much attention to Jirachi.

"That should even the score a bit," Jirachi said to himself. "Now, where are the rest of them hiding?"

The floating host ventured further into the kitchen until he reached the freezer. He opened the door and found an impatient Cryogonal inside.

"You're out, buddy," Jirachi said. "Not a very creative hiding spot."

"I worked with what I had," Cryogonal said, frowning. "Should I just wait back at camp for now?"

"Yep. We haven't found all of the campers yet," Jirachi notified him. "But your team is losing pretty heavily right now. You better hope they make a comeback!"

Cryogonal's frown remained on his face as he left the cafeteria. Jirachi left shortly after Cryogonal, having determined that there were no others campers hiding in the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

"You really couldn't come up with anything better than this?" Diancie asked Reuniclus quizzically. The two of them were inside the rec room, and Diancie was conversing with Reuniclus, who was still under the pool table.

"I don't do well under pressure, okay?" Reuniclus said defensively. "You guys gave me ten minutes to come up with something!"

"You could have hid in the woods," Diancie suggested.

Reuniclus twiddled with his gelatinous fingers nervously. "But I, uh…"

"What?" asked Diancie.

"I don't like hiding in the woods, okay?" Reuniclus said, throwing his hands up. "I get freaked out when I have to go into the woods alone."

Diancie smiled at him. "Your secret's safe with me. Now run along back to the others."

Reuniclus pulled himself out from underneath the pool table. "Thanks for, uh, not being a jerk about my hiding place," he said, rubbing his head.

"That's Jirachi's job, not mine," Diancie joked lightheartedly. Reuniclus smirked and floated outside to rejoin his team.

 **-static-**

The rock shattered into pieces in Tyranitar's grip as it was blasted by a powerful, concentrated electric shockwave. Tyranitar grunted and picked up another boulder to use as a shield. Thundurus cast another electric attack at Tyranitar, but the Rock-type rolled out of the way and the shockwave hit the mountain, causing rocks to tumble over the side of the mountain.

"You're really putting up a fight!" Thundurus shouted excitedly. "I never got to fight anyone as strong as you during the race!"

Tyranitar whipped a boulder at Thundurus. The genie's eyes widened and he barely managed to dodge out of the way. "H-hey! I thought you were a pacifist!" Thundurus protested.

"I have to defend myself somehow!" Tyranitar called back. He picked up another boulder and held it in front of himself again. "I'd really appreciate it if we could stop fighting!"

"Hmph. Fine," Thundurus agreed unhappily. "But either way, I found you. You're out of the challenge."

Tyranitar nodded. "Okay. See you later, then." The big green dinosaur began lumbering down the mountain casually as if nothing had even happened.

 **-static-**

" **I suppose fighting a legendary is a good workout," Tyranitar said. "I might take the rest of the day off."**

 **-static-**

Jirachi had left the camp to search elsewhere around the island. He had told the campers that they could visit the mountains and tunnels, so he had decided that exploring the island's cave system might be a good place to start.

"And now it's time for my…" Jirachi paused dramatically, "...handy-dandy flashlight!" He whipped out a small orange flashlight and flicked the power switch. The flashlight cast a dim beam of light into the dark depths of the cave, allowing Jirachi to see small sections of the cave at a time.

One of the first things he saw was an awkwardly positioned Chatot trying to fit into a tiny indentation in the cave wall. Jirachi prodded the bird to let him know he had been found.

"It was that obvious, huh?" Chatot said, looking disappointed. He flew down out of the hole and landed next to Jirachi.

"Well, considering your hiding place was only a short distance into the cave and you're a colorful Pokémon...yes, it was that obvious," Jirachi confirmed. "Must be hard to camouflage yourself when you're at least four different colors."

"Don't rub it in," Chatot warned him. The bird tipped his hat to the host and flew out of the cave. Jirachi decided to continue looking further in, figuring Chatot might not have been alone.

Jirachi progressed deeper into the cave, shining his flashlight across the tunnel back and forth. He thought he caught a glimpse of something purple moving, but it darted out of sight. The sign of movement was quickly followed by a loud bump and a female voice letting out a shout of pain.

The host sighed and caught up to Noivern. "Come on. Really. You tried to get away from me and you weren't even paying attention to where you were going," he lectured her.

Noivern was sitting on the cave floor, rubbing her head from where she had bumped into a stalactite. "Hey, I had a decent hiding place!" she told Jirachi. "You wouldn't have found me without that flashlight."

"Ah, yes. The wonders of technology," Jirachi marveled. "But the thing is, I do have a flashlight. You're out!" he said, beaming.

Noivern grumbled quietly and flew past Jirachi. The host continued on his merry way to pick off some more contestants.

 **-static-**

Diancie had just discovered Seviper wrapped around the highest branches of a tree and sent her off to camp. The odds were still stacked against the Milotics, however, and Seviper wasn't worried that her team would lose.

"Hm...where else would the campers hide?" Diancie thought aloud, trying to think of places where the campers usually gathered. An idea came to her. "The lake! That's it."

The co-host arrived at the lake quickly and looked around the area. Nothing caught her eye immediately, so she began to look around more carefully. She examined the surface of the water and saw nothing but her own reflection.

A subtle cough caught Diancie's attention. She turned around swiftly to see Lopunny crammed between two bushes. The bunny waved hesitantly. Diancie waved back.

"I'll just be on my way, then," Lopunny sighed, pulling herself out of the bushes. Diancie turned her focus back to the lake. It was possible that some of the campers could have hidden underwater. Dusclops, Clauncher, and Vaporeon could all breathe in an underwater environment, but Dusclops had already been discovered.

"Here goes nothing," Diancie told herself. She pulled out her convenient scuba gear from her pocket and dove underwater to have a look around.

The Jewel Pokémon sank deeper into the lake, and not being a particularly strong swimmer, it took Diancie some effort to pull herself into one of the underwater caves. Diancie pulled out her flashlight and flicked the power switch. It didn't turn on.

Diancie took a closer look at the label. "Warning: this product is not waterproof," she read. "Now they tell me."

Diancie returned to the surface in defeat. A concealed Vaporeon grinned victoriously.

 **-static-**

"Gotcha!" said Jirachi, yanking Jolteon out from behind some rocks by the scruff of his neck. Jolteon yelped in pain and began pawing at the air. Jirachi dropped the Electric-type on the ground next to him.

"You don't have to be so rough, you know…" Jolteon muttered.

Jirachi nodded. "Yeah, I know. But that would take away all the fun from my job. I have to keep myself entertained somehow," he answered calmly. Jolteon was amazed at how illogical Jirachi's reasoning was, but then he realized that it shouldn't have been a surprise.

As Jolteon returned to camp, Jirachi emerged from the opposite end of the tunnel from the one he had entered. He was now at the edge of the ravine and he had a clear view of the forest on the other side.

"So many opportunities to find campers," said Jirachi enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together. He zipped out of the cave and began searching the ravine thoroughly.

Beedrill pushed himself further into a crack in the wall. "This is gonna be close," he muttered.

 **-static-**

" **That host can cover a lot of ground in a short time," Beedrill said, impressed. "It probably helps that he can teleport, but still. I was probably bound to lose once he decided to search the ravine."**

 **-static-**

A few minutes later, Jirachi was pulling Beedrill out of the crack in the wall. Beedrill flew off to camp and the host resumed his mad hunt for the remaining contestants.

As Beedrill arrived in camp, he was shocked to see the number of Pokémon already there. Most of the other campers had gotten out already. Some of the losers had started a small fire in the center of camp and were roasting marshmallows.

"Thanks for starting the fire, Combusken," Reuniclus told the newly evolved chicken. Combusken smiled awkwardly but didn't say anything. "Say, does anyone know who's still in the challenge?"

"Azurill's still out there somewhere," said Noivern, who was holding a bag of ice to her head. "And, uh...Mawile, that's right. I think that might be it from our team, though."

"I can confirm that those are the only two left from our team," Cryogonal agreed. "The Gastrodons have a few more left."

"Lilligant, Mienshao, and Vaporeon are all hiding," Minun said, expanding upon Cryogonal's thought.

"And Clauncher," added Combusken shyly.

Minun nodded. "Yeah, I forgot about him. Sorry."

"Anyone know where those guys are hiding?" Scrafty asked as he held a marshmallow on a stick over the fire. "Just out of curiosity."

"I saw Mienshao hide underneath the dock," Lopunny said. "But she could have moved by now."

A drenched Mienshao walked back into camp soon after Lopunny said this. "I was hoping Diancie wouldn't check the docks," Mienshao said.

"There's your answer," said Baltoy flatly. Mienshao glared at the cynical psychic.

 **-static-**

"Next time you're planning on hiding underground, you should try to cover your tracks a little better," Diancie advised Lilligant. "I could tell that the dirt in this area had just been dug up."

Lilligant seemed disappointed that her disguise hadn't worked, but she took her loss with dignity and walked back to camp without complaint. Once Lilligant arrived back at camp, Diancie made a final announcement over the intercom.

"ATTENTION, CAMPERS! THE SCORE IS TIED NOW WITH TWO REMAINING CAMPERS ON THE GASTRODONS AND MILOTICS. IF YOU'RE STILL IN THE GAME, CONGRATULATIONS! YOU PROBABLY WON'T BE FOR MUCH LONGER," Diancie concluded.

 **-static-**

Jirachi opened the door to the multi-purpose building. The lights were off, so he hit the switch and the overhead lights turned on individually.

The multi-purpose building had been reverted to its gymnasium layout. Bleachers lined one wall of the gym, while a court was in the middle. There weren't many places that a Pokémon could hide in there.

Jirachi inspected the bleachers closely. He thought he saw a form moving beneath the bleachers. "Aha!" he called triumphantly. He pressed a button and the bleachers began folding themselves up and collapsing against the wall to make more space.

A panicked Mawile dashed out from underneath the bleachers just as they closed. She looked at Jirachi with a look of a disbelief. "You almost trapped me in the bleachers!" she protested.

"Yeah, but I didn't _actually_ trap you, so we don't have to deal with any lawsuits. Neat, huh?" asked Jirachi, grinning.

"You're unbelievable," Mawile scoffed. She walked for the door and left Jirachi alone in the gym.

Jirachi pressed the same button and the bleachers sprang back out. "Some people just don't know how to take a joke," Jirachi told himself.

 **-static-**

Diancie stared at the pantry with a look of disbelief. "...you hid in the pantry."

Azurill was crammed onto a shelf among some canned beans. "Yup!"

"And Jirachi missed you somehow?" Diancie inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I guess so!" said Azurill cheerfully.

"Well, you're out," Diancie informed Azurill. She brought a walkie-talkie up to her mouth. "Jirachi, I just found the last Milotic."

Jirachi's voice crackled to life on the other end. "Wonderful! Send them back to camp, and I'll teleport whatever Gastrodons remain."

Azurill hopped out of the pantry and marched back to camp. Despite her loss in the challenge, Azurill had once again been the last Pokémon standing on her team, and she didn't feel at all concerned about the elimination.

Diancie exited the cafeteria after the blue mouse and awaited Jirachi in camp. The host appeared a few seconds later, and with a snap of his fingers, Vaporeon and Clauncher appeared on both sides of him.

"I think you're forgetting someone," Diancie reminded Jirachi.

"Oh, duh," Jirachi said, slapping his forehead. "Silly me!" He snapped his fingers and Thundurus appeared as well.

"It's over?" Thundurus asked the hosts. Jirachi nodded his head solemnly. "Ah, darn it. I didn't get to do much here today, either."

"There's always room on this island for another legendary, man," Jirachi said. "Feel free to stop by anytime!"

"Will do," Thundurus said with a grin. He bumped fists with Jirachi and took off into the sky once more.

"And that concludes our challenge!" announced Jirachi, turning around to face the campers. "Vaporeon and Clauncher remained undiscovered during today's challenge, so they have won for the Gastrodons! Just out of curiosity, where were you two?"

"I was hiding in a cave underwater," Vaporeon explained. Diancie groaned softly. "Diancie was close to finding me, though."

"And where were you?" Jirachi prompted Clauncher.

Clauncher seemed proud of himself. "In the tank."

"In...the tank?" repeated Jirachi in confusion.

"You know, the tank. The one from the paintball challenge!" Clauncher explained. Jirachi and Diancie exchanged bewildered looks. "You'd never think to look in a tank for somebody, right?"

"Well, you've got me there," Jirachi said, rubbing his head. "I guess that does it. Gastrodons, you're all safe for another night! Milotics, one of you will be walking the dock tonight and sailing away on a Lapras!"

"This blows," Scrafty groaned. "Two losses in a row?"

"The other team's had it worse," Mawile whispered. "Besides, we lost Zoroark and Boldore in a row and we recovered from that. I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Guess we hafta vote someone out again," Chatot said to Jolteon as the two of them walked to the male Milotics' cabin. "We've already decided on our game plan."

Druddigon scowled as he watched the two of them disappear inside. Hopefully his new alliance with Chandelure would pay off in the ceremony.

 **-static-**

"We need a plan," Cryogonal said to Mawile and Dusclops. The three of them were sitting on the front porch of the male Milotics' cabin. It was late at night, and they would surely be called to the elimination ceremony soon. "Who should we vote for?"

"Did you two make any plans this morning while I was busy?" Mawile asked.

"Yes, but they'll have to be put aside for tonight," Cryogonal grumbled. "Chandelure, who was our target, is immune tonight. Fortunately, so is Dusclops."

"Boy, is it good to be me," Dusclops snickered.

"If I may suggest someone, why not Baltoy?" Mawile suggested. "He got out on purpose for today's challenge, or so I've heard. He's not exactly a team player."

"He is one of our weakest players, without a doubt," Cryogonal said, considering her suggestion. "All right, I don't see why not. We can afford to lose Baltoy."

"You can count me in on that," Dusclops said. "I've had enough of Baltoy to last me a lifetime."

"Good. We're in agreement?" Cryogonal asked, eyeing Mawile. She nodded. "Okay. Let's not mess this one up."

 **-static-**

" **I told Scrafty that Cryogonal's alliance is voting for Baltoy," Mawile revealed. "And he's on board with it. So far, this is playing out well for me. I hope it continues to be that way."**

 **-static-**

" **If Mawile stands with us tonight, she'll prove her worth," Cryogonal said. "I want to trust her, but a part of me still doesn't. I hope that changes tonight."**

 **-static-**

"Okay, campers! Thirteen of you Marvelous Milotics remain. After tonight's ceremony, one of you will cease to be a part of this team," Jirachi began dramatically. "You've all placed your votes."

The Milotics all readily waited for the Pokéblocks to be passed out. "If you receive a Pokéblock, you're safe, as always," Jirachi said. "Here we go. First of all, since SOMEBODY gave Dusclops and Chandelure immunity without my permission, those two are safe tonight."

Dusclops got up and took his Pokéblock, looking smug. Chandelure took hers and returned to her seat with a bored expression.

"The next Pokéblock goes to Azurill," said Jirachi, tossing her a Pokéblock. Azurill caught it and popped it into her mouth while bouncing around excitedly.

"Jolteon, you're safe," Jirachi continued. The yellow Pokémon caught his Pokéblock and smiled at Chatot hesitantly.

Chatot pulled his hat over his eyes. "Chatot, you are too." Chatot glanced up in surprise and caught his as well.

"The next Pokéblocks go to Cryogonal, Noivern, and Scrafty," said Jirachi, tossing the Pokéblocks as he called names. "And finally, Mawile didn't receive any votes either."

After Mawile claimed her Pokéblock, only Druddigon, Castform, Liepard, and Baltoy remained. Druddigon cast glares at Jolteon and Chatot–he figured they would have voted for him. Castform seemed a bit perplexed. Liepard looked tired for some reason. Baltoy's expression was difficult to read.

Jirachi twirled his finger in the air. "The next Pokéblock goes to…" His finger spun around and finally pointed at Castform. "Castform."

Druddigon looked a bit more concerned than before. Had more than just Jolteon and Chatot voted for him? The bottom three was not a good place to be.

Liepard looked down at the ground. She didn't want to lose her shot at the money, but she didn't think her team would keep her around for much longer anyway.

Baltoy's eyes were shut tight in concentration. He seemed frustrated about something, or else intensely focused. It was hard to tell.

Jirachi popped the next Pokéblock high in the air and it landed on Druddigon's seat. "You're safe, Druddigon," Jirachi said. The Cave Pokémon released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"The final Pokéblock of the night goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Baltoy."

The psychic looked startled by this news, but he recovered quickly and went up to Jirachi to take his Pokéblock. He watched as Liepard sighed and walked toward the confessional.

 **-static-**

" **Once I hit the bottom four, I had this sinking feeling," Liepard admitted. "I didn't do well in today's challenge and I have no allies on my own team. It was all bound to catch up with me sooner or later.**

" **I...had a pretty good time here. I met some nice Pokémon like Frillish, Beedrill, and Seviper," she said, smiling. "And I hope those friendships will last outside this show. All in all, I don't regret coming here."**

 **Liepard gently set her challenge calendar on the outhouse seat. "Guess I won't be needing this anymore," she said. "I'll let some lucky camper find this. So long, Pokémon Drama Island."**

 **-static-**

Not many Pokémon came to see Liepard off. As Liepard was packing her belongings onto the shell of her Lapras, Seviper came slithering down the dock.

"Hey," Seviper said, getting her attention. "I wasss hoping you wouldn't be leaving ssso sssoon."

"So much for that post-merge alliance, huh?" Liepard said, sighing. "At any rate, good luck. You're a stronger competitor than I was. You still stand a chance."

Seviper gave Liepard a cocky grin. "Winning wasss my plan from the ssstart," Seviper said. "Thanksss for your help today. I won't forget it."

Once Seviper left, Liepard boarded the Lapras. Before she left, though, one last visitor showed up.

"Hey," Castform called. Liepard groaned internally. "I just wanted to say...sorry."

Liepard was caught off guard. "I'm sorry if I was really annoying and stuff while you were here," Castform apologized. "It was just for fun, you know? I wanted to have a few good laughs, and I feel like I ended up doing so at your expense."

Liepard managed a smile. "Thanks. I, uh, don't hold it against you," she said. "Good luck, I suppose."

"See ya!" Castform said, winking. Liepard's Lapras began swimming away from the island, leaving Castform alone on the dock.

 **-static-**

" **Hmph. That's one off my list," said Baltoy. "But I'm a bit concerned with my current standings...I was at the bottom of tonight's ceremony. The team doesn't need me as much anymore.**

" **The merge can't get here soon enough," Baltoy groaned. "I can only delay my elimination for so long."**

 **-static-**

 **Druddigon pounded his knee with one fist triumphantly. "I achieved victory in tonight's ceremony," he proclaimed. "My new alliance is working! Chandelure voted with me tonight, and with some convincing, we got Azurill and her friends to vote with us. I don't doubt Baltoy may have even voted for Liepard."**

 **He gave the camera a sharp-toothed grin. "Now, if this keeps up,** _ **I**_ **control the game. Chatot and Jolteon better watch their backs."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon sat on his bunk, yawning from exhaustion. He quickly pulled out his notebook and scratched off Liepard's name.

"Who could it be?" he whispered.

* * *

Congratulations! You made it through the chapter. Well, you probably did, unless you just skipped to the end.

Fun fact: Liepard was not my first candidate for elimination this chapter. I considered two other campers before she was decided upon. I'll let you speculate about who the others could have been.

Another fun fact: This chapter exceeded ten thousand words, a record for this story that I don't think I broke until now. I would imagine that future chapters will probably be longer.

This chapter wasn't too heavy on action or drama, but it did built up some character relations. Next chapter should probably be more focused on the aforementioned action and drama.

Once again, I'm sorry for the delay. Thanks for waiting.

Liepard: Don't forget to review! This story is powered by reviews!


	11. Tournament Troubles

It's starting to look like an update every few months is becoming the norm. That's not at all what I had intended or hoped for, so I apologize.

At any rate, winter break is around the corner and my finals for this semester are almost over. That means I theoretically will have more time. Of course, I'm prepared for the worst but who knows? Maybe I'll be able to get a second chapter done this month.

I've kept you waiting long enough, though. Enjoy!

* * *

Noivern and Castform were both spending their spare time in the rec room, playing a game of pool. Noivern sunk one of the balls into a pocket, and she smirked confidently.

Castform tried to copy Noivern's technique, but she only managed to tap the cue ball a few inches forward. Noivern snickered at her friend good-naturedly.

"Yeah, yeah, make fun of the girl with no arms," Castform grumbled. "We should play something else."

"Oh, come on. I'm having some fun," said Noivern enthusiastically.

"Sure, whatever," Castform said, brushing her off. "I have to wonder what we'll be doing today. It is challenge day, isn't it?"

"Sure is," Noivern confirmed. "Hide and seek was pretty tame, so I'll bet they're cooking up something nasty this time around. I just hope it's nothing like the fear challenge. That one still sends shivers down my spine."

"All you did was get sprayed with a hose," Castform said, shaking her head.

Noivern frowned at Castform defiantly. "That's like me saying 'all you did was stay in a sandstorm!' It wasn't exactly fun, was it?"

Castform was about to open her mouth to argue, but suddenly Azurill burst through the door. "Guys! GUYS! They changed the multi-purpose building again! Come check it out!" Azurill announced loudly. Castform and Noivern exchanged a glance and filed out of the recreational room after Azurill.

Chandelure, who had been quietly reading a book in a chair in the back of the rec room, glanced up with interest. "Hm. I'll have to see what they've done to the place," Chandelure muttered softly. She got up from the chair and floated outside.

Azurill arrived at the multi-purpose building quickly, having ran all the way from the rec room. She was joined moments later by Noivern and Castform. Chandelure exited the building, looked around to make sure she hadn't been seen, and followed the three of them from a distance.

Azurill bounced into the multi-purpose building, which had been redecorated once more, presumably for the upcoming challenge. An enclosed boxing ring stood in the middle of the room, with stairs leading up the sides to get into the ring.

"What's up with this?" Castform wondered, eyeing the ring. "Is this going to be a fighting challenge?"

Noivern squealed excitedly. "Do you realize how cool that would be? Watching a fight between, like, Tyranitar and Mega Mawile or something! It would be the battle of a lifetime!"

"Mawile's not even allowed to use her Mega Evolution anymore," Castform pointed out. "And knowing the hosts, they'll probably make it so that we don't choose who gets to fight. And I suck at fighting."

"Don't you think you're getting a bit ahead of yourselves?" asked Chandelure, who was floating in the doorway. "The hosts haven't even announced the challenge yet. There's no way of knowing what we're supposed to do."

"Oh, hi there, Chandelure!" Azurill greeted the ghost. "Whatcha doing here?"

"Same as you. I'm having a look around," Chandelure informed her. "It doesn't look like there's much to see yet, unfortunately. The arena does seem indicative of a fighting challenge, though."

"Well, I'm off to grab some breakfast!" Noivern said. "Catch you guys later!" She took off for the cafeteria, sailing past Chandelure, who dodged out of the way.

"I think I'm heading out, too. See ya," Castform said to Azurill as she left the building. Chandelure floated outside and took a seat on one of the logs in the center of camp. She pulled out a book and flipped to the bookmarked page.

 **-static-**

" **It's no wonder Chandelure is so lonely all the time–I've never seen her doing anything outside of challenges besides reading a book," Azurill stated. "I really think she could make some friends if she tried."**

 **As Azurill stood up to leave the confessional, she noticed something on the seat. "What's this?" she wondered, picking up a calendar. "Maybe somebody left it here."**

 **She put the calendar back on the seat. "They'll probably retrace their steps and find it here eventually," Azurill said with a shrug. "None of my business."**

 **-static-**

By this hour in the morning, most campers had gathered in the cafeteria. A few of the late sleepers, like Scrafty and Dusclops, were still in bed. The campers that were awake were all lining up at the counter to receive breakfast from Diancie.

Diancie served Lopunny some berries, a muffin, and a cup of coffee. "Thanks," Lopunny said to the co-host, who smiled kindly at her. Lopunny took her tray of food back to one of the long cafeteria tables and sat near the end.

Vaporeon joined Lopunny at the end of the table and set down her tray of breakfast. "Hey. How are you doing?" Vaporeon asked politely, sitting down.

"I'm doing fine this morning," said Lopunny, smiling. "And I've been sleeping a lot better now that I know our team is on a winning streak."

"You said it," Vaporeon agreed, grinning. She took a sip of her coffee. The two Gastrodons were soon joined by Minun, who placed her tray next to Vaporeon's.

"Did you guys see the multi-purpose building today?" Minun asked the two of them.

Lopunny and Vaporeon shook their heads. Minun took this as her cue to continue. "Well, according to Lilligant, the inside was changed at some point overnight. Now there's some type of arena set up in there."

"That's probably got to do with the challenge," Lopunny theorized. "Not that I know what the challenge is going to be, but it sounds as if it's going to be a fighting challenge."

"That's the rumor that's going around, at least," Minun informed her. "I asked Diancie while I was getting some food, but she's not allowed to say until Jirachi makes an announcement."

"Hey," Lilligant greeted her friends, joining them at the table shortly after Minun finished speaking. "Good morning, everyone."

Vaporeon was about to respond to Lilligant when the cafeteria doors were flung open and a positively radiant host levitated inside. "OHHHHHHH, CAMPERS!" Jirachi hollered, holding a megaphone up to his mouth. The feedback caused many campers to cover their ears. "YOU SHOULD ALL KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS!"

"Challenge day," responded Beedrill flatly.

"PRECISELY! SO TURN THAT FROWN UPSIDE-DOWN, BUG BOY!" Jirachi shouted cheerily. "I'VE EVEN GONE OUT OF MY WAY TO CREATE A REWARD SYSTEM FOR TODAY'S CHALLENGE! THERE ARE A FEW PRIZES FOR THE WINNERS TODAY!"

"We can hear you fine without the megaphone!" complained Mienshao. Jirachi rolled his eyes at her and tossed the megaphone aside.

"Uh...we don't actually have to...you know, fight today, right?" Combusken quavered.

"Psh. You make it sound like that's a bad thing!" Jirachi laughed. "Of course you're battling! Not only is it good for ratings, but what else would we have set up that ring for? Seriously. Those things are pretty much only used for fights."

"You say battling," Druddigon rumbled. "Does that mean a traditional battle? With four moves each?"

"Bingo, dragon dude," Jirachi went on, smirking. "It's an old school Pokémon battle! One Pokémon from each side will battle at a time. The winner proceeds to the next round."

"So we're doing this tournament style?" asked Reuniclus, raising his hand. Jirachi nodded in confirmation. "Oh. That's cool, I guess."

"Since we only have so many of you here, and not a nice number for a tournament, some of you will not be participating," Jirachi mentioned. "We chose this randomly, so I don't want to hear any complaining!"

"How many of us _are_ competin', then?" Chatot piped up. Jolteon, who was sitting next to him, had been wondering the same question.

"That's a good question. We'll have four matches in the first round, meaning eight of you will participate," Jirachi answered. "There are only twenty-three campers left, so fifteen get to sit out today."

"I don't like those odds," Baltoy complained.

"Honestly, you never do anything anyway, so I'm not sure why you're complaining," Jirachi objected, frowning at Baltoy. "If anyone else has questions, speak now or forever hold your peace!"

"What happens if one team wins all the matches in the first round?" Cryogonal asked. "You know, theoretically speaking."

"We'd have a really boring episode," Jirachi said. "Anything else?"

"Can I get seconds?" Clauncher spoke up, holding his tray high in the air.

Jirachi facepalmed. "That's a question for Diancie, not me. I'll be expecting all of you at the multi-purpose building in two hours!" The host snapped his fingers and vanished from the campers' sight.

"Well, this will certainly be something," Cryogonal mused. Mawile nodded in agreement.

 **-static-**

Reuniclus, Beedrill, Clauncher, and Tyranitar had all gathered together for another alliance meeting that morning. The four of them were meeting in the male Gastrodons' cabin, since the only other male Gastrodon was Combusken, and he was outside talking to Minun.

Reuniclus was sitting on the edge of his bed, facing the other three members of his alliance. "Okay, we need a game plan today," Reuniclus began. "Jirachi announced a tournament, so we need to prepare our best moves and strategies before it begins."

"And how do you propose we go about doing that?" Beedrill asked, raising a needle.

Reuniclus picked up a large sack that was filled to the brim with whatever its contents were. He placed the bag down on his bed and opened it up to reveal a collection of TMs.

"I've been saving these for times like this when we might need them," Reuniclus said, smirking. He flashed a Psychic TM at his friends.

Clauncher grinned widely. "Dude, this is awesome! Although I kind of want to ask what compelled you to bring these to the island."

Reuniclus sighed. "I don't know, man, I just do weirdly convenient things for the sake of the plot."

Jirachi kicked down the door to the male Gastrodons' cabin. "Reuniclus! Quit breaking the fourth wall!" the host shouted angrily. "Do you realize how much footage I have to cut because of your habitual wall breaking?"

The other Gastrodons stared at Reuniclus, who looked bewildered himself. "What?" he asked innocently.

 **-static-**

Mienshao and Lilligant were standing behind the female Gastrodons' cabin. No one else was in sight, so they had the privacy to meet without fear of being seen. Mienshao was leaning against a tree, deep in thought. Lilligant was holding a glass of lemonade and drinking from it through a straw.

"If I get sent in there against a Ghost-type, it's over," Mienshao muttered. Lilligant watched Mienshao with a curious expression. Mienshao had been fairly distant since the announcement of the fighting challenge.

"You know, if you want to be able to fight Ghost-types, why not learn a move that isn't Normal- or Fighting-type?" Lilligant suggested.

"Does it look like we have any TMs?" Mienshao said in exasperation. "I can't learn a new move just like that. The only way to learn a new move would be by training."

"So let's train," said Lilligant, shrugging. "We have two hours."

"Okay, first of all, two hours is barely enough to learn a single move," Mienshao pointed out. "Secondly, the only moves I learn from here on out without TMs are Fighting-type."

"Oh," Lilligant said. "Well, I could see how that might be a problem."

"Yeah," Mienshao sighed in frustration. "Dusclops and Chandelure are both immune to my attacks, and they're both on the other team. I have to hope I don't get sent against either of them."

"There's no guarantee you'll even be participating," Lilligant added. "You might get lucky and be allowed to sit out!"

"I can't count on that. My luck is terrible," Mienshao groaned. "I'm screwed."

 **-static-**

" **Rest assured, Dusclops, I haven't forgotten about that...incident," Mienshao threatened.**

 **Mienshao got up and realized she had been sitting on a calendar. "What is** _ **this?**_ " **Mienshao murmured, picking it up. She opened it, and moments later her eyes lit up. "Oh. Ohoho...this is** _ **good,**_ " **she chuckled darkly.**

 **-static-**

Scrafty yawned and sauntered out of the male Milotics' cabin. He instinctively reached for the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, but realized he'd left them in the cabin. He shrugged lazily and continued walking to the cafeteria.

"You're a bit late," Mawile greeted him as he walked in. Only a few Pokémon were still in the cafeteria; Dusclops, Azurill, Noivern, and Castform were all chowing down on some muffins and berries. "Sleep well?"

"You bet," Scrafty murmured sleepily, pouring himself a glass of water. "How 'bout you, sunshine?"

"I slept fairly well myself," Mawile replied, taking a bite out of her bagel. "You missed the announcement for today's challenge, by the way."

"Believe me, I didn't," Scrafty grunted. "You can hear that damn megaphone all the way across camp."

"Oh. Well, we'll be battling the other team today," Mawile said. "I'm not really sure how to prepare for that, so I've just been waiting around here."

"It wouldn't kill you to just admit you're relaxing," Scrafty snickered.

Mawile rolled her eyes. "Call it what you will. You're welcome to join me if you want," she offered, gesturing to a seat across the table. Scrafty politely took a seat and set his glass of water on the table.

"How's your other alliance going?" Scrafty brought up. "Cryogonal and Dusclops still don't know you're running two alliances at the same time, right?"

"They haven't figured it out. Hopefully, they won't have to," Mawile said, her expression becoming grim. "I don't think Cryogonal would take it well if he found out we're trying to use his vote."

"You think he'd stab you in the back if he found out?" Scrafty asked quizzically. "It doesn't seem like he trusts you that much, really."

"I'm worried that Cryogonal might think we're trying to stab _him_ in the back," Mawile replied. "I know for a fact he wouldn't want to ally with you, so–"

"Thanks," drawled Scrafty.

"I'm being serious," Mawile said. "Cryogonal's trying to keep his alliance size to a minimum. Dusclops was the one who wanted to recruit me. If Cryogonal finds out that we're doing this, he might turn on us and try to get us eliminated."

"You think he'd do that?" asked Scrafty, sipping his water.

Mawile looked down at the table. "...Maybe."

Scrafty forcefully set his glass down. "Look, no matter what choice you make, you should make it before this becomes a problem. I'm on your side," he said reassuringly. "Even if this plays out badly, you've still got me!"

Mawile gave him a weak smile. "Thank you. I just need some time to plan how to approach this," she told him. Scrafty nodded understandingly and left the cafeteria. He wasn't hungry anyway.

 **-static-**

" **I don't know how long I can put up this facade," Mawile admitted, looking tired. "I don't want to end up betraying Cryogonal, but eventually I'll have to pick a side. All I wanted to do was increase the number of votes I could use, but this is way more stressful than it's worth."**

 **-static-**

Baltoy was spinning around lazily in front of the warehouse. He didn't have any friends on this island, so most of his time was spent trying to keep the crippling boredom at bay.

He sighed in boredom. Nothing was entertaining around here anymore. He'd already gotten into the warehouse and taken out his primary enemies.

"This place sucks," said Baltoy bluntly. "I want the money, but I have to wait twenty-two more eliminations for it. Not only is my victory improbable, it feels like it's so far away that it's not even worthwhile."

"Are you talking to yourself?" asked Chandelure, glancing up from her book.

"Shut up and mind your own business," snapped Baltoy angrily.

 **-static-**

"ALL RIGHT, CAMPERS, ENOUGH LOLLYGAGGING! GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE MULTI-PURPOSE BUILDING, PRONTO!" Jirachi shouted obnoxiously over the intercom.

One by one, the campers arrived on the scene. Jirachi and Diancie were already waiting to address the campers.

"Okay! I see you've all arrived," Jirachi said once all of the campers were present. "Though it would be nice if some of you didn't arrive fashionably late next time," he added, glaring at Baltoy.

"As you all should know, today's challenge is a battle tournament," Diancie rehashed. "Four Pokémon from each team will be duking it out for the top spot. And like we mentioned before, the winners will receive prizes!"

"Winners? You mean there's more than one?" Dusclops questioned, looking confused.

Diancie nodded. "Yep. Well, kind of. The finalists will both receive prizes, but the winner of the final match receives an additional prize."

"And obviously the losers will vote someone out, so that's an incentive to win, as always!" said Jirachi. "Everybody inside! We'll be announcing the first match!"

The campers filed inside the multi-purpose building. The layout was even more impressive than before; stage lights were focused on the ring, lighting it up for better visibility. All of the other lights were turned off. The bleachers from the leftmost wall had been expanded again to give the campers some room to sit.

"Get yourselves situated. We'll announce the competitors as we go along, so you never know if you're going to get picked or not! How exciting!" Jirachi gushed. "Boy, do I love a good cup of drama in the morning."

"Get on with it," Baltoy called down to Jirachi. The host shot him a look and then gestured to Diancie. The co-host unrolled a slip of paper and handed it to Jirachi.

"Our first contestant is...Azurill!" Jirachi announced, grabbing his trusty megaphone and shouting into it.

Azurill flipped into the air from the bleachers and landed on the floor perfectly. She danced her way into the ring and bounced in one corner excitedly. "I'm ready!" she shouted.

"Good! I like your spirit, kid!" Jirachi boomed through the megaphone. "And in the red corner we have the brawny bunny, the resilient rabbit, LOPUNNY!"

Lopunny gave Jirachi a puzzled look and walked into the ring. "There is no red corner," she pointed out.

"Just stand on the opposite side, then!" Jirachi said. "Jeez, people, it's not that hard!"

Lopunny shrugged and stood across the ring from Azurill. The Polka Dot Pokémon did her best to look intimidating, but to Lopunny it looked more like Azurill was constipated. She tried not to laugh.

"The goal of each battle is to render the opponent unconscious!" Jirachi announced the rules. "Only four moves may by used by any one Pokémon! May the strongest Pokémon win!"

"The match begins in three...two...one!" Diancie counted down.

Azurill shot toward Lopunny at a frightening speed for one so small. She swung her tail around and smacked Lopunny in the face a few times with it, causing the bunny to stagger backwards. Azurill took this chance to unleash a flurry of bubbles at her opponent.

Lopunny took the hit and ran at Azurill. She jumped into the air and aimed a midair kick for Azurill. Azurill darted out of the way of the Jump Kick and Lopunny landed on the opposite side of the ring. Lopunny twisted her ankle upon landing and winced in pain.

Azurill bounced into the air again and landed on Lopunny's head. She smacked the bunny in the face a few times with her round tail, and Lopunny swatted at the smaller Pokémon a few times to no avail. Azurill giggled gleefully as she bounced off of Lopunny and swept the bunny's feet out from under her. Lopunny hadn't even been able to touch her!

"Go, Azurill!" Noivern cheered loudly from the audience. She stood up from her seat in excitement, blocking Baltoy's view of the ring.

"Get out of my way, you dingbat," spat Baltoy.

Noivern turned around and gave him a glare. "You know, you're really making me regret not voting for you in the last elimination."

"The feeling is completely mutual. Now sit down," Baltoy commanded. Noivern stuck her tongue out at him and ignored him. Baltoy sighed in irritation.

Back in the ring, Lopunny had been knocked to the ground by Azurill. Azurill was currently working up the crowd's excitement by performing some showy water attacks.

"Just knock 'er out already!" Chatot shouted.

"Come on, Lopunny, get up!" Minun shouted.

Azurill smirked confidently–there was no way she could lose this one. She was too agile for Lopunny to hit. Despite Lopunny being naturally faster than her, her small size allowed her to dodge out of the way of Lopunny's attacks with ease.

She was quickly brought back to reality as a frozen fist flew across her face. Lopunny stood over her, panting. Azurill saw Lopunny's right fist encasing itself in a solid layer of ice and began to think she may have underestimated her opponent.

Azurill dodged out of the way of a second Ice Punch and send a Bubble attack at Lopunny. The bunny popped the bubbles in a swift arm motion and launched herself at Azurill with a quick Jump Kick. Azurill was unable to dodge and was sent flying out of the ring.

"If you're not back in the ring in five seconds, Lopunny wins the match!" Jirachi announced.

"Since when was that a rule?" Castform complained to the hosts.

Jirachi shrugged. "Since I felt like it. Because drama and all that jazz."

Azurill hopped to her feet and sprinted back to the ring. She hopped right over the steps and launched herself into the ring, where she was promptly smacked to the ground by Lopunny.

Lopunny pinned Azurill the floor using one hand and smashed her other fist into Azurill's face, knocking the Polka Dot Pokémon out cold. Jirachi blew a whistle and Lopunny straightened her posture to face the hosts.

"How was that?" asked Lopunny, panting.

"Stellar! And that's one victory for the Gastrodons!" Jirachi informed her. "Pat yourselves on the back, Gastrodons. Your team has taken the lead!"

Diancie floated into the ring and used a Revive on Azurill. She handed a few Sitrus Berries to Lopunny, who accepted them and walked off the stage.

"Huh...what happened?" Azurill moaned, regaining consciousness.

"You just lost to Lopunny," Diancie said. "It's time for the next match."

"Wait, did I really lose in the first round? Aw, snap," Azurill muttered. "Guess I'd better get out of your way, then!"

Azurill hopped off the stage and rejoined her team in the bleachers. Many of the Gastrodons were already cheering for Lopunny, who had sat down next to Vaporeon and was trying her best not to look flattered from the attention.

 **-static-**

" **Ah, shoot. I blew it, and in round one no less!" Azurill said. "Bummer. But if Lopunny beat me, I kinda hope she goes all the way."**

 **-static-**

"Nice job out there," Vaporeon commented to Lopunny as the Normal-type sat down. "You've made it to round two. I think that makes you safe from elimination, even if we lose. It does in my eyes, at least."

"Let's try to avoid losing," Lopunny remarked. Vaporeon smiled at that. "At least I don't have to fight for another three matches."

"Next up for the Milotics, we have Chatot!" Jirachi announced loudly.

Jolteon smirked at Chatot. "You got this, man," he said encouragingly.

Chatot tipped his hat. "Thanks, pal. But I already knew I was gonna win," he said confidently. Chatot stood up and flew down from the bleachers, landing in the ring in a graceful swoop.

Jirachi finished selecting another contestant randomly. "Aaaaand his opponent will be...Combusken," Jirachi finished, looking disappointed. "I think we all know how this one is going to go."

"H-hey!" Combusken protested. "I haven't even fought him yet!"

"I didn't say anything about _you,_ " Jirachi said, rolling his eyes even though the implications were clear. "Anyway, get in the ring, you big chicken."

Combusken stood up defiantly and marched onto the stage. Chatot flapped his wings a few times and watched Combusken with a cocky smirk. "Ya ready ta lose?" Chatot taunted.

"Um...no!" Combusken sputtered. Clauncher groaned from his seat.

 **-static-**

" **It's not like I've ever trash talked someone before…" Combusken muttered. "I mean, it wasn't that bad...right?"**

 **-static-**

Chatot raised an eyebrow. "Well, ya bettah prepare yourself then, 'cause I ain't plannin' ta lose," Chatot remarked.

"The match will begin in three…" Diancie began counting down, "...two….one!"

Chatot wasted no time after the match begin, immediately going on the offensive. Combusken barely had time to react as Chatot crashed into him with a powerful Aerial Ace attack. Combusken stumbled backwards and hit the side of the ring.

"Come on, Combusken, don't just stand there! Hit him back!" shouted Clauncher.

Combusken picked himself up and ran at Chatot. The Music Note Pokemon flew upwards, dodging Combusken's swipes. Combusken jumped into the air repeatedly, grunting as he swung at Chatot to no avail.

"This is pathetic," Chatot snickered. "I'll make this quick. No need ta humiliate ya too much."

Chatot swooped down at Combusken and crashed into the chicken's torso, sending Combusken sprawling across the floor of the ring. Combusken's head bumped against one of the posts at the corner of the ring, and Combusken groaned as he struggled to stand up again.

"Go Chatot!" Azurill cheered enthusiastically. "You can do this!"

"Combusken doesn't stand a chance!" Castform called down to Chatot.

Combusken winced as he heard the Milotics cheer for Chatot. What they said was probably true...but it still hurt to hear that they all thought he was weak.

"No," Combusken said, fueled by a sudden determination to prove himself. "I can still win!"

"Yeah! Get in there, Combusken!" Clauncher shouted as Combusken dashed across the ring. Chatot began to fly up again to avoid Combusken's physical attacks, but he was caught off guard when a flurry of embers shot up at him instead. Chatot darted to the side as quickly as he could, but a few of the feathers on his wings were singed.

"Well played," Chatot remarked, impressed by Combusken's sudden switch in tactics. "So you've got some ranged attacks, huh? Two can play at that game."

The room began to grow dark all of a sudden. The space around Combusken turned a dark black, and for a moment the hosts lost sight of Chatot. But a mere second later, Chatot reappeared, and a swirling dark energy propelled Combusken backwards into the side of the ring again.

Noivern gaped. "Was that–?"

"Night Shade," Jolteon said, grinning. "He's just full of surprises, isn't he?"

Before Combusken could recover, Chatot folded his wings in and flew at Combusken. He crashed into Combusken at a high speed, sending Combusken flying out of the ring.

"Five seconds!" Jirachi shouted. Combusken weakly pushed himself up, but he collapsed onto the floor a moment later. "Four! Three! Two! And...out!"

Chatot let out a triumphant squawk. "Piece of cake," he boasted. He flew back into the bleachers, where Jolteon began showering him in praise.

"That means this second round goes to the Milotics, evening out the score," Jirachi announced. "We're on to the next match!"

Diancie revived Combusken, and the Fire-type sat up groggily. "Wha…?" he groaned.

"You lost the match. The teams are tied," Diancie explained. "Do you want me to help you back to the bleachers?"

"I'm fine," Combusken muttered. He walked over to the bleachers dejectedly, disappointed in his own performance in the ring. Clauncher gave him a comforting pat on the back once he sat down. A number of his teammates, namely Mienshao and Seviper, did not look so forgiving.

 **-static-**

" **I get that Clauncher'sss friendsss with Combusssken, so he doesssn't want to vote him out," Seviper sighed. "But we can't afford to keep our weakessst player for too much longer. And Combusssken's definitely our weakessst player."**

 **-static-**

" **To be honest, the only reason I haven't voted off Combusken yet is because he's Clauncher's friend," Reuniclus admitted. He folded his arms and sighed. "But that's not gonna cut it anymore."**

 **-static-**

"Our next battle will take place between Castform from the Milotics," Jirachi announced, "and Lilligant from the Gastrodons! Get on up there, folks!"

"Good luck," said Noivern, waving to Castform.

"Thanks, but I don't need luck to win," Castform said, winking. She floated into the ring, where she began formulating a plan to beat Lilligant.

Lilligant took the stage calmly and wordlessly, watching Castform with an unreadable expression. Minun couldn't help but watch Lilligant curiously–she had never seen Lilligant try to fight before.

 **-static-**

" **Lilligant's no pushover, I know that much," Minun said. "She's packing Sleep Powder, and in a match like this, that's** _ **really**_ **important. But I don't know how much experience she actually has with battling."**

 **-static-**

Jirachi blew a whistle to signal the beginning of the match. Immediately, Castform began to cast Sunny Day, causing the temperature of the building to rise tremendously. Castform also became shrouded in a veil of smoke before emerging with her head encased in a transparent orange bubble, with several orange orbs forming an arc over her head.

Lilligant wasted no time in taking advantage of the battlefield. She charged up some type of energy, and before Castform could react, she released the Solar Beam at her opponent. Castform was knocked back by the blast, but not harmed too much thanks to her form change.

 **-static-**

" **Well, that was stupid of me," Castform muttered. "Grass-types usually have access to moves like Solar Beam, and I just set the stage for her."**

 **-static-**

Castform decided to switch tactics before things could get worse. She summoned a hailstorm next, which replaced the sweltering heat with a shower of sharp, freezing hailstones. Castform's form changed again, with her head this time becoming protected by a swirling cloud.

Lilligant was pelted by the hail, and she attempted to cover herself with her arms. This gave Castform just enough time to fire off a Weather Ball at Lilligant. The attack became encased in ice as it shot through the hail, and when it hit Lilligant, it sent her reeling back. Castform smirked–the battle was far from over.

Lilligant dodged out of the way of a second Weather Ball that Castform blasted a moment later, and she began to dance in the middle of the ring. Castform watched in utter bewilderment as Lilligant twirled around like she was performing instead of battling.

"What the heck is she doing?" Dusclops whispered to Cryogonal.

Cryogonal studied Lilligant's movements, and his eyes lit up. "Ah, I get it. Quiver Dance."

"Care to explain what's going on in that mind of yours?" Dusclops prompted.

"Quiver Dance is a technique that makes the user's special attacks more potent," Cryogonal explained. "Lilligant's most likely a special attacker, so she's trying to increase the power of her moves."

"Oh," Dusclops said. "That's actually pretty smart."

Castform, on the other hand, was struggling to figure out what Lilligant was doing. Lilligant's dance suddenly transformed into a more vigorous one with rapid movements. A storm of petals began to surround Lilligant. Castform's eyes widened as the petals began to shoot at her.

Castform was assaulted by the petals, and Lilligant didn't let up. Her Petal Dance onslaught continued for about fifteen seconds until Castform was rendered unconscious.

"And...the match is over!" Jirachi called. "We have a winner: Lilligant!"

The Gastrodons cheered loudly, and Lilligant smiled shyly as she returned to the bleachers. Any trace of the fierceness she had displayed in battle had disappeared by the time she sat down next to Minun.

 **-static-**

" **So, uh...not only did Azurill lose, so did I," Castform muttered. "That's not going to go over well with the team."**

 **-static-**

"We have one last match in the first round!" Jirachi shouted. "So let's get right to it! From the Milotics, we have...Scrafty!"

Scrafty shrugged and stepped into the ring. Couldn't be too bad, right?

Jirachi cleared his throat. "And from the Gastrodons, we have Tyranitar!"

Scrafty's heart sank as the gargantuan Rock-type sauntered into the arena. He laughed nervously as Tyranitar took the opposite side of the ring.

"The match will begin in three...two...one!" Jirachi counted down. To Scrafty's surprise, Tyranitar didn't move. He simply stood in his corner, waiting for Scrafty to do something.

"C'mon, big guy. Put 'em up," Scrafty taunted, unable to hold himself back. He waved his fists at Tyranitar and rocked back and forth on his feet. Still, Tyranitar didn't move.

"All right, looks like I'll make the first move then," Scrafty said, preparing to use Brick Break. He ran at Tyranitar and swung his fist at full force, smacking it into Tyranitar's armored scales. Tyranitar didn't even flinch.

"No way," Clauncher breathed. "I knew Tyranitar was strong, but he just shrugged off a Fighting-type attack!"

Beedrill frowned. "Yeah, but he's not invincible. He's just minimizing the damage done to himself by using Iron Defense."

"Oh, that makes sense," Clauncher said. He watched Tyranitar more closely this time, and as Scrafty tried using Brick Break a second time, he saw that Tyranitar's scales shone with a metallic glare.

Scrafty gasped as his attack merely bounced off of Tyranitar's armor again. He shook his hand a few times–his knuckles were red from hitting Tyranitar. "Are you gonna fight back or what?" Scrafty asked, eyeing Tyranitar suspiciously.

Tyranitar looked down, and Scrafty could tell he wasn't happy about being in the ring. "No," Tyranitar said quietly. "I'm not."

"What?" Mienshao hissed from the bleachers. "Why isn't he doing anything?"

"He's a pacifist," Lilligant told her. "He shouldn't have to fight just to win a challenge! Besides, we're already in the lead."

"That doesn't matter! If he doesn't win, then we're tied again," Mienshao argued. "I don't want to lose again. Tyranitar, just hit him already!" she shouted.

Scrafty was awkwardly standing in the ring with Tyranitar. He knew that his attacks weren't going to damage Tyranitar much, and Tyranitar apparently wasn't going to fight back. "Uh...well, okay then," Scrafty said. "Do you forfeit, or…?"

Tyranitar turned to Jirachi. "Jirachi," he said, getting the host's attention.

"What?" Jirachi asked. "This isn't a complicated challenge, guys! All you have to do is hit the other person until they get knocked out, and then–"

"I forfeit."

Jirachi stared at Tyranitar in shock. "Uh...are you _sure?_ " Jirachi asked. "I mean, you could probably beat Scrafty if you tried."

"Hey!" Scrafty shouted indignantly.

"Yes, I'm sure," Tyranitar stated. He couldn't bring himself to look at his teammates.

Jirachi glanced at Diancie and then shrugged. "Okay, I guess we have a winner. Scrafty takes this match for the Milotics," Jirachi announced halfheartedly. "Dang, and I thought this was going to be an interesting match, too."

"What?" Mienshao screeched as Tyranitar walked toward the exit. "You can't do that! Get back in the ring, Tyranitar!"

Tyranitar pushed open the door and walked out without looking back. Lilligant watched him leave, feeling concerned.

"Let's take ten, everyone. Our fighters need a rest before round two," Jirachi announced. "Meet back here in ten minutes."

The campers began filing out of the multi-purpose building. Lilligant left to go look for Tyranitar.

 **-static-**

" **Tyranitar, you know you're my friend, but...you could have handled that A LOT better," Beedrill said, shaking his head. "Mienshao already had her eye on us, but now she's probably out to get Tyranitar."**

 **-static-**

Lilligant finally spotted Tyranitar sitting on the steps of the cafeteria. Tyranitar sighed and looked at the ground, muttering something to himself. He didn't seem to notice Lilligant approaching him.

"Hey," Lilligant said softly. "You okay?"

Tyranitar glanced up at her. "...I don't know. The team seems pretty upset with me," he sighed. As Mienshao walked by the cafeteria, she scowled at him.

"You shouldn't have just forfeited the challenge like that," Lilligant said. "You know Mienshao's not going to be happy about that."

"Why do you care so much about Mienshao?" asked Tyranitar, looking up at Lilligant. "You said she was always bossing you around."

Lilligant looked away nervously. "I...I don't know," she admitted. "But she's kept the alliance together since the beginning of the game, and I guess I just don't want to go against her."

"I see," Tyranitar said. "Well, it's already over now. I can't go back and redo that match. So we better hope that we win the challenge."

He stood up and began walking away. Lilligant stood up and walked after him. "Wait! Tyranitar," she said. He looked back at her. "I understand why you don't want to fight, but...you have to. Or else you're going to get voted out, and…"

Her voice trailed off a bit. "...I don't want you to get sent home."

Tyranitar's eyes widened for a moment, and then he smiled. "Thank you," he said. "But I've already failed the challenge. It's up to you now."

He walked off without another word, leaving Lilligant feeling both determined and helpless.

 **-static-**

"Okay, so you've made it through round one. Whether it was a fluke or not remains to be seen," Mawile said. "But we have to prepare you for whatever comes next."

Scrafty grinned. "Relax. I'm up against either Lopunny or Lilligant, and I've easily got an advantage against Lopunny. So that's, like, a fifty percent chance at an easy win," he said.

"But what if you're up against Lilligant?" said Mawile, crossing her arms. "Don't get too cocky. She's more of a fighter than I thought she'd be."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to see how this goes, then," Scrafty said, winking at Mawile. "Now we'd better get back. Time's running out."

The two of them headed back to the multi-purpose building. The rest of the campers were also heading back inside.

 **-static-**

"Welcome back, everyone!" said Jirachi, though he noticed not everyone had returned to the multi-purpose building. Notably, Tyranitar was missing, and Chandelure had left to go read her book since she wasn't involved in the tournament. "Let's get straight down to business!"

"The first match will take place between Scrafty and Lopunny," Diancie announced.

"See? What'd I tell you?" Scrafty snickered at Mawile. "Easy win."

Lopunny took her place in the ring, and Scrafty joined her moments after. Lopunny didn't look particularly thrilled at being pitted against a Fighting-type, but the thought of giving up didn't even cross her mind for a second.

"Before we begin, I'm going to make an announcement," Jirachi said. "The four of you that have made it to the semifinals have secured themselves immunity tonight. None of you can be voted off after the challenge."

"Wait, if we get immunity tonight, what kind of prize does the winner of the tournament get?" Scrafty asked eagerly.

"That...is something I will reveal _after_ the winner is determined!" Jirachi said. "Now, let the match begin!"

The whistle was blown once more, and Lopunny made the first move. She jumped into the air and aimed a kick directly at Scrafty's face. Not expecting such a direct attack, Scrafty was kicked in the face and sent tumbling backwards. Loud cheers came from the Gastrodons' side of the bleachers.

Scrafty pushed himself up quickly and ran back into the ring. He slammed his fist into Lopunny's side, pushing her back and giving him more room to maneuver. Lopunny recovered quickly as well, and she prepared her next attack, encasing her fist in ice.

"What's she doing? Ice attacks aren't effective against Fighting-types," Vaporeon muttered.

Lopunny brought her fist down onto the ground. Icy shards burst from the impact and scattered all over the floor of the ring. Several of them made contact with Scrafty's feet, freezing him in place.

"Well, crud," Scrafty said. Lopunny smirked.

The Rabbit Pokemon launched another Jump Kick at Scrafty. The impact of the second attack almost knocked Scrafty off balance, but thanks to the ice keeping him anchored in place, he remained standing.

Scrafty tried swinging at Lopunny a few times with his fists, but his arms couldn't reach far enough to touch her. Lopunny spun around and landed another kick on Scrafty, this one shattering the ice and sending him across the ring.

Scrafty got up and was immediately assaulted by a couple of punches from Lopunny. Scrafty lost his sense of direction and began wandering about the ring aimlessly.

"Ooh, a Dizzy Punch strategy!" Jirachi remarked to Diancie. "You don't see that one too often. And Scrafty's confused now!"

Scrafty stumbled about some more before a final kick from Lopunny knocked him unconscious. Jirachi blew the whistle. "I declare the winner to be Lopunny!" the host shouted. "We have one more match before the final round–Chatot versus Lilligant!"

"If Lilligant manages to defeat Chatot in this round, then the Gastrodons will win without having to go to the final round," Diancie stated. "If that happens, both Lopunny and Lilligant will receive the grand prize for this challenge."

Lilligant and Chatot headed towards the ring as Diancie revived Scrafty. Lilligant passed Lopunny on her way to the bleachers. "Good luck," Lopunny whispered. Lilligant smiled.

Chatot flapped in place as Lilligant took her spot across the ring. "Ya ready?" Chatot asked.

Lilligant nodded, but she didn't feel too confident about this match. Her moves wouldn't be very effective against a Pokemon like Chatot, but she knew she couldn't just give up against him.

Jirachi blew his whistle, and the battle began. Lilligant used Sunny Day to put the environment in her favor. Chatot spent his turn plotting how to attack Lilligant best. He felt his focus grow sharper.

Lilligant fired off a Solar Beam at Chatot. The blast hit the side of the building, causing the whole place to shake. Jirachi shouted angrily at Lilligant, but his words were lost as Lilligant fired another Solar Beam, this one connecting with Chatot, but doing surprisingly little in the way of harming him.

"Here goes nothin'," Chatot muttered to himself. He knew that Lilligant's Sunny Day setup allowed her to use Solar Beams in quick succession, but he had figured out how to make use of the battlefield in his own favor as well. He whipped up a strong wind with his wings and sent a wave of heat at Lilligant.

The Heat Wave attack blew Lilligant backwards, and Chatot followed up with an Aerial Ace to make it difficult for her to recover. Lilligant was hit again, but she danced out of the way of his next attack and hit him with a Petal Dance. Chatot escaped the storm of petals, but he was met with a Solar Beam on his way out.

Chatot collapsed onto the ground, and Lilligant moved as far away from him as possible, using Quiver Dance to increase her momentum. Chatot got back up and dodged a Petal Dance before using Aerial Ace again. He managed to hit her again, stopping her in the middle of another Quiver Dance.

Chatot used another Aerial Ace, and that was all it took. The accumulation of so much damage had exhausted Lilligant, and she fell unconscious. Chatot let out a victorious chirp and danced around on the stage a bit, as if taunting the Gastrodons.

Diancie revived Lilligant and sent her back to the bleachers. "Okay," Jirachi said, speaking up once more. "The results for our final match are here! The final match will take place between Lopunny and Chatot, and the winner gets a special prize! So you two better prepare, because this is a good one."

"Oh, I'm ready," Chatot chuckled. "It's Lopunny who'd bettah watch out."

The campers exited the multi-purpose building for another quick break as Chatot and Lopunny prepared for the last battle. Minun and Lilligant walked out together.

"Have you seen Tyranitar since the last round?" Lilligant asked Minun.

"I don't think he came back," Minun realized. "Was he still outside the whole time?"

Lilligant sighed. "Probably. I don't know what to do. He seems so distressed over the fact that he forfeited the fight, but I don't know what to say."

"And you want to cheer him up?" asked Minun, sitting down on a stump near the edge of the woods.

"I just don't want him to go home if we lose," Lilligant said. She rubbed her arm awkwardly. "He's my friend."

"That's all this is? You're just 'friends?'" Minun inquired.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Lilligant, looking affronted.

"You two hang out all the time," Minun pointed out smugly. "I thought you two would have made some progress by now."

"That's not what this is about!" said Lilligant, looking flustered. Minun rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm going to go look for him."

Lilligant marched off to go find Tyranitar, leaving Minun alone on her stump.

 **-static-**

"Got any threes?" asked Castform.

"Go fish," said Noivern.

Castform sighed. "This game isn't any fun. Can't we play something else?"

"But you said it was my turn to pick out a game!" Azurill protested.

"And you pick 'Go Fish' every time," Castform said.

Azurill giggled. "Yeah, 'cause it's funny to hear you complain each time."

"You're the worst."

"I know."

 **-static-**

"Is there any reason you pulled us out of there for an alliance meeting?" Dusclops asked. Cryogonal was floating back and forth in front of Mawile and Dusclops, thinking to himself.

"Well, none of us are involved in this challenge, so I figured that we may as well plan for the next one," Cryogonal suggested.

"But I wanted to go watch the final match! That's the best one," Dusclops complained.

"We don't even know what the next challenge is yet, Cryogonal," Mawile pointed out. "We should just go watch the battle."

"Yeah, but I was thinking about discussing our elimination plans a bit more," Cryogonal said.

"Dude, you know I'm your friend and all, but I'd rather go watch a battle than sit around here and talk strategy," Dusclops said. "There will be plenty of time for that later. Let's just relax for now!"

Dusclops grabbed Cryogonal and steered him toward the multi-purpose building. "Come on, lighten up, man. Have some fun," Dusclops said, grinning.

Cryogonal chuckled. "Okay, fine."

Mawile watched the two of them head back inside and sighed. She really hoped it didn't come down to picking between her two alliances.

 **-static-**

"AAAAAND TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT, FOLKS! YOU'RE WATCHING THE FINAL BATTLE LIVE, HERE ON POKEMON DRAMA ISLAND!" shouted Jirachi. "CHATOT FROM THE MARVELOUS MILOTICS AND LOPUNNY FROM THE GREAT GASTRODONS ARE ABOUT TO GO HEAD TO HEAD IN POSSIBLY THE MOST EPIC BATTLE EVER WITNESSED!"

"Dramatic much?" Diancie laughed.

"I get paid to do this! Why not have fun doing it?" Jirachi said. "All right, you two. Get in the ring."

Chatot and Lopunny entered the ring and turned to face each other. Chatot flapped his wings a few times, warming up for the fight. Lopunny cracked her knuckles.

Most of the campers were in attendance for the final fight. The only Milotics that weren't present were Chandelure, Druddigon, and Baltoy, and all of the Gastrodons but Tyranitar had shown up. Clauncher had brought a tub of popcorn to enjoy while watching the fight, and Reuniclus was helping himself to its contents as well.

"Let the match begin in three...two...one!" Jirachi announced the start of the battle, and Lopunny and Chatot both shot forward. Chatot used Aerial Ace to land a direct hit on Lopunny first, but she followed up by pounding him with a solid Ice Punch. Chatot grunted and hit the floor.

 **-static-**

" **Probably the biggest ovahsight on mah part was forgettin' that Lopunny had Ice Punch," Chatot commented. "And lemme tell ya, Ice Punch hurts."**

 **-static-**

Chatot was hit with another Ice Punch as Lopunny took advantage of her lead. The Milotics were shouting for Chatot to get up, and he rolled out of the way as Lopunny unleashed a third Ice Punch. Chatot flew away from Lopunny, knowing that she'd be unable to attack him from afar.

He was right–as soon as he was at a safe distance, Lopunny kept trying to close the gap between them. She needed to be close for her physical attacks to work, so Chatot whipped up a gust to keep her at bay. Lopunny struggled against the wind, and she prevailed, leaping towards Chatot with an Ice Punch already prepared.

Chatot dodged her fist and swooped down to attack, hitting her from behind with an Aerial Ace. She turned around to get at him, but he flew back, whipping up another gust. Lopunny scowled at his hit and run tactics.

Chatot created a Heat Wave and sent it at Lopunny, causing her to stagger for a few seconds. That was all Chatot needed to swoop in with another Aerial Ace. He dodged out of the way as she swung at him with a Dizzy Punch.

"Come on, Lopunny!" Vaporeon shouted from the bleachers. Clauncher had stopped munching on popcorn and was now intently watching the match.

"Get her, Chatot!" screamed Noivern enthusiastically. She grinned at Castform. "This is AWESOME."

Lopunny sprinted directly at Chatot. Not knowing where to go, Chatot braced himself for her attack and prepared to counter with an Aerial Ace. Lopunny did a quick spin in the air and kicked Chatot with one leg, knocking him to the ground. She hit him with a quick Dizzy Punch before he could recover, and Chatot began wandering around the ring aimlessly.

"Oh, so _that's_ what happened to me in the last match," Scrafty realized. "Confusion is trippy, man."

Lopunny walked over to Chatot and hit him hard with an Ice Punch. Chatot reeled backwards and shook his head, regaining control over his movements. He sidestepped a second Ice Punch, and before Lopunny could tell what had happened, Chatot's wing became encased in ice, and he knocked her to the ground.

"Okay, wait, I'm pretty sure Chatot can't learn Ice Punch," Noivern said. "Is he cheating, or…?"

"He's probably using Mirror Move," Cryogonal said from a few rows above Noivern. "His species is known to learn the move, and it's a good move to use to surprise your opponent."

"That's clever," commented Castform. "Chatot's full of surprises, isn't he?"

Chatot dove at Lopunny with another Aerial Ace, and this time she was knocked down. Jirachi peered down from the announcers' booth. "Uh...is she unconscious?"

"Don't look at me," Chatot said, raising his wings. "I ain't goin' to check. Could be a trick."

Jirachi sighed and levitated down. "Yep, she's out cold," Jirachi revealed. "Which means tonight's victory goes to the MARVELOUS MILOTICS!"

Cheers erupted from the Milotics' side of the room, and Chatot's teammates ran down to congratulate him. "But that's not all," Jirachi reminded the contestants. "Tonight's champion has earned a prize, as I stated earlier."

Diancie floated down next to Jirachi. "For making it to the final round, both Lopunny and Chatot have not only immunity tonight, but during the next challenge as well," she said.

"And for our winner, Chatot," Jirachi began, pulling out a ticket of some sort, "you get this!"

Chatot looked disappointed, but he took it. "What the heck is this?" he asked, flipping it over. There was no writing on it.

"That's a valuable item in this game!" Jirachi stated.

"It's a piece of yellow paper," Chatot said, frowning.

Jirachi sighed. "Tsk, tsk. It is not just a piece of yellow paper, Chatot."

"But it is," Chatot said, waving the paper in front of Jirachi's face.

"OKAY, JUST LET ME FINISH," Jirachi snapped. "You can USE that piece of paper to save someone else from elimination. At any time. Anyone but yourself."

Chatot looked significantly more satisfied with this answer. "Huh. Duly noted," he said, tucking the ticket beneath one of his wings. Jolteon looked intrigued by the ticket.

Jirachi clapped his hands. "All right, that's it for tonight, everyone! Gastrodons, meet at the campfire pit in ten minutes! Don't forget that Lopunny and Lilligant have immunity!" he said.

 **-static-**

"We need to talk," Mienshao said as her alliance gathered. Minun and Lilligant both waited to hear what Mienshao had to say. "We've lost...again. And so someone has to go."

"How about Combusken?" Minun suggested. "He's not doing us any good."

"No," Mienshao said, curling her fists angrily. "Combusken can wait until later. But if there's one thing that I'm not going to let slide, it's someone who deliberately sabotages their own team."

Lilligant wanted to say something, but Mienshao went on. "Tyranitar has got to go tonight," she growled. "What he did in there is essentially sabotage. He made the choice to deny our team a victory, and as such, we have to lose someone tonight. There's no one who deserves to leave more than him right now."

"I guess that's somewhat valid, but don't you think he might be useful later?" Minun asked.

"He's going to be a threat later. Jirachi's probably going to get rid of the teams soon, and then Tyranitar would become an enemy," Mienshao theorized. "So why not get rid of him now?"

Minun glanced at Lilligant. The Grass-type hadn't spoken up, but it was clear to Minun that she didn't agree with the plan. "Well, okay," Minun said. "If that's what you want, fine."

"Good. Then we're all done here," Mienshao said. "Let's get down to the ceremony. We don't want to miss it."

 **-static-**

" **I hate going against what my alliance wants," Lilligant said, looking stressed. "But I can't vote him out! He didn't even do anything wrong! He just didn't want to fight, and…"**

 **She sighed. "Well, I guess being a pacifist is enough to make Mienshao to vote for him," she said. "But I don't have to vote with Mienshao every time, right?"**

 **-static-**

The Great Gastrodons were all seated at the campfire pit. Jirachi stood before them, twirling a tray of Pokeblocks and eating up the tension.

Combusken was nervously tapping his seat with his talons in a frantic rhythm. Tyranitar was looking out into the distance, seemingly unaware of all of his teammates watching him. Reuniclus seemed concerned about Tyranitar, but he didn't want to say anything.

"I'm sure it's been a long day for those of you who competed, so I'll get right down to it. Lopunny and Lilligant, since you're both immune, you are the first ones safe," Jirachi stated. Lopunny walked up and took a Pokeblock. Lilligant followed suit, and she cast several glances at Tyranitar on her way back to her seat.

Jirachi chuckled darkly. "Oh man, this was a good one," he laughed. "It was a close vote, guys. There were two of you who almost tied. But I don't want to spoil the ending, so we'll go in order."

He tossed some Pokeblocks into the crowd. "Reuniclus. Clauncher. Vaporeon," he listed off. "You're all safe. So are Minun and Seviper."

As Seviper slithered up to receive her Pokeblock, Beedrill took a look around. His name hadn't been called yet, and the only others without Pokeblocks were Combusken, Mienshao, and Tyranitar.

"Beedrill, you're good to go," Jirachi said. Beedrill looked relieved, but he knew with Tyranitar being so low, this elimination ceremony might be his friend's last.

"The votes tonight were spread out between the three of you. Somewhat evenly, I might add," Jirachi said. "It was pretty close! But–"

"Give me my Pokeblock already," Mienshao demanded.

"Fine. Come get it," said Jirachi, narrowing his eyes. "I was going to give it to you anyway." Mienshao snatched up her Pokeblock and glared at Tyranitar.

"Combusken and Tyranitar, you both failed at this challenge spectacularly. Tyranitar, you had what it took to win the match, but you opted out," Jirachi said. "And Combusken, you just kind of...failed. Because despite your evolution, you're still just a scrawny chicken."

"Hey!" Combusken protested. Tyranitar didn't bother to look up.

"This last Pokeblock goes to…"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Combusken," finished Jirachi. Combusken exhaled a deep breath and ran up to claim his Pokeblock.

Tyranitar stood up and sighed. "Thanks for having me," he said to his team, giving them a quick wave. He began lumbering towards the dock, but he was stopped by his friends.

"Tyranitar, you're not seriously going to take this, are you?" Clauncher asked frantically.

Tyranitar smiled at Clauncher. "I appreciate that you guys want me to stay, but the team's right. I wasn't up to the challenge today. It's my time to leave."

Reuniclus extended a gelatinous hand to Tyranitar. "It was good to have you in the alliance," Reuniclus said formally. Tyranitar took his friend's hand and shook it. "Thanks for everything."

"See ya, dude," Clauncher said sadly.

"We'll miss you," Beedrill said, giving Tyranitar a small smile.

"Thanks, guys. Really," Tyranitar said. He waved to them one last time before heading into the confessional.

 **-static-**

" **As soon as my name was called for the tournament, I knew this wasn't going to end well," Tyranitar said. "I really didn't think I'd be out this early when I joined the show, but in all honesty, I made some good memories here. I'm happy with what happened, even if I leave without a million dollars."**

 **Tyranitar shrugged. "It might sound cheesy, but it's true. I made some friends and that's what matters to me.**

" **See you later, Pokemon Drama Island," Tyranitar finished, climbing out of the confessional.**

 **-static-**

As Tyranitar walked down the dock, he heard someone coming up behind him. "Tyranitar!" a voice called. He turned around.

Lilligant caught up to him and stopped to catch her breath. "I'm sorry," she said. "Mienshao wanted to vote you off, and I...didn't stop her."

"Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault that I'm out," Tyranitar said calmly. "I knew Mienshao was going to vote for me no matter what. I don't think you _could_ have convinced her otherwise."

"So you're not mad that you're leaving?" Lilligant asked.

Tyranitar smiled at her, and Lilligant immediately felt a bit better. "Of course not. I was never expecting to win, but I got to spend a lot of time here with people that I care about."

He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I got to spend some time with you," he said softly.

Lilligant turned red. "O-oh...um," she stuttered. "I-I'm going to miss you, too."

Tyranitar smiled. "I'll see you later, then." He climbed onto his Lapras and departed from the island. Lilligant watched his Lapras disappear into the distance.

Tyranitar's last words echoed in Lilligant's mind, causing a smile to spread across her face as she walked back from the docks.

 **-static-**

In the male Milotics' cabin late at night, the sound of a pencil scratching against paper awoke Scrafty. He peered across the cabin to see Jolteon scribbling in a notebook. He seemed to be crossing something out.

Scrafty shrugged, too sleepy to care much. He rolled back over and fell asleep again.

Jolteon tapped his mouth with the end of the pencil. Tyranitar's name had just been crossed out, but there were still so many left. The idol was gone, but who took it? The owner's identity eluded Jolteon.

He sighed. There still wasn't enough to work with. He'd have to figure it out some other time.

* * *

Oh no, we're all out of Rock-types! As of Tyranitar's elimination, there are no remaining Rock-types on the show, barring Diancie.

A few important things happened this chapter. Mawile struggles to balance her alliances. Mienshao's alliance is also having some issues, but she has the challenge calendar. Chatot has the ability to save another camper from elimination. Both Lopunny and Chatot are still immune during the next challenge.

Anyways, Tyranitar's elimination is what I consider the first "turning point" of the show. His elimination still isn't _too_ big in terms of impact, but it does upset the voting powers of the Gastrodon team. Mienshao's alliance now has as many votes as Reuniclus' alliance does, so that's sure to cause some trouble in the upcoming ceremonies.

Fun fact: The remaining amount of campers is the same size as the original cast of Total Drama Island. Not that that really matters at all.

I know I've said it before, but I do feel the need to apologize again for how late this chapter is. There's really no reason that it should have taken me this long to write this up. I was just procrastinating like usual and I'm sorry.

And in case I don't get another chapter up by the end of the month, happy holidays!

Tyranitar: Don't forget to review, everyone! Thanks for reading!


	12. Breaking Point

Happy really belated new year! It's not even January anymore, so I really screwed that opportunity up. Oh well.

The reason that this chapter took so long is that I was halfway through writing my first draft when I decided I didn't like the challenge, so I scrapped it and wrote this one instead. For anyone curious, the original challenge was going to be a cooking challenge, which I might do later if I feel like it.

Thanks for waiting patiently for this one, and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

The sun rose over the island once more, a telltale sign that morning had arrived. In the male Gastrodons' cabin, Clauncher and Beedrill were watching a disheartened Reuniclus climb down from the top bunk of his bed.

"Dude, are you okay? You look depressed," Clauncher said, tapping his pincers together awkwardly.

"I'll be fine. I just can't believe we lost Tyranitar already," Reuniclus muttered in response. "As the alliance leader, it was my job to make sure none of us were eliminated, and...I failed."

"Hey, hold up there. You didn't fail anyone. Tyranitar knew he was going home from the moment he chose to forfeit," Beedrill told Reuniclus. "He knew the consequences. So I don't think there's any use in blaming yourself over the fact that he got eliminated."

Reuniclus groaned and let his head slump onto the sheets of the bed. "Yeah, but we're only ten challenges in and we've already lost someone. I thought we'd all make it to the merge, at the very least."

Beedrill put one of his needles on Reuniclus' shoulder gently, so as not to sting him by accident. "Lighten up, man. There's still three of us in this alliance, and we're not far from the merge. Getting three out of four to the merge isn't anything to be ashamed of."

Reuniclus sighed. "We're not even at the merge, Beedrill. I haven't gotten anyone to the merge yet."

Beedrill smirked. "Yeah, _yet_. Believe me, we're more than capable of turning things around. We're one of the strongest alliances on the team, if not in the entire game. We can win if we just keep trying."

"Thanks, Beedrill," Reuniclus said, looking slightly less down than before. "So what's the plan, then?"

"The plan is to go get breakfast," Beedrill informed his friend with a chuckle. "I'm starving. You should come along, too."

Beedrill pushed open the cabin door and Clauncher followed him out after giving Reuniclus a brief glance. Reuniclus sat on the bottom bunk for a moment before deciding to follow his friends to the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

Combusken, who had not been in the male Gastrodons' cabin, was sitting in the rec room holding a cup of some fizzy red drink. Dusclops and Cryogonal were playing a card game at a table in the center of the room, and Chandelure was seated on the opposite side of the room, reading a book under the soft glow of a lamp. Combusken took a sip from his cup and relaxed in his chair.

Dusclops pulled a card from his hand and laid it on the table, revealing it to be a queen. "Ha ha!" exclaimed Dusclops triumphantly. "A queen beats an ace, right?"

Cryogonal snickered. "No, Dusclops, an ace has the highest value in the game."

Dusclops stared in disbelief. "What? But that makes no sense! I thought aces were like ones…"

"Not really. They're higher than kings, which makes them...about fourteen, if we're talking numeric values," Cryogonal calculated, clearing the cards off the table. "I'm bored. You want to do something else?"

"Yeah, let's go get some food," Dusclops suggested. The two of them headed towards the door to leave. As Dusclops opened the door, he noticed Minun about to come inside. She let Cryogonal and Dusclops through before entering.

Minun let out a deep breath and looked around. Chandelure was reading a book to her left, while Combusken was the only other Pokemon inside, and he was on the other side of the room. She decided not to bother Chandelure, so she walked over to Combusken and sat down.

"Have you seen Lilligant?" Minun asked Combusken. The fowl glanced up in surprise and shook his head. "Really? Huh. I wonder where she went."

"Maybe she's back at the cabin?" Combusken prompted hesitantly.

Minun shook her head. "No, I already checked there. Mienshao's inside, but Lilligant wasn't there. I guess she could have returned to the cabin while I was off searching, though."

"Why are you looking for her?" Combusken asked curiously. Minun turned to look at him, and Combusken looked down at the ground, flustered. "If you don't mind me, uh, asking."

"Oh, I just wanted to talk to her," Minun said. "I haven't really had the chance since yesterday, and M–er, I have something to tell her."

Combusken frowned. "I, uh, wish I could help, but I don't really know where she is," he mumbled. "Sorry."

"It's not a big deal," said Minun, shrugging casually. "I'll find her eventually. See you later." She gave Combusken a friendly wave and left the rec room. Combusken stared at the door for a while after she left.

 **-static-**

Mienshao sat on her bed in the female Gastrodons' cabin, flipping through the pages of the challenge calendar. There was a red circle around the current date, with the words "UPHILL BATTLE" written in large print.

"Hm," Mienshao mumbled. "Interesting."

The cabin door opened, and Seviper slithered inside. The poisonous snake caught sight of Mienshao. "What are you reading?" she asked suspiciously.

Mienshao closed the calendar. "None of your business," she stated simply. "Why don't you run along now?"

"I have jussst as much of a right to be here asss you do," Seviper reminded Mienshao, climbing onto her bed.

Mienshao sighed irritably and began flipping through the calendar again, being careful to shield the pages from Seviper's view.

 **-static-**

" **Don't get me wrong, I haven't forgotten about Seviper. I plan to eliminate her eventually," Mienshao sneered. "But Reuniclus' alliance presents a more pressing problem."**

 **Mienshao leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. "Getting rid of Tyranitar was a start, but we need to chip away at their alliance some more. I'd love to see Reuniclus go personally, but Beedrill's a tough player as well," she admitted. "Clauncher's not a threat; he's merely a pawn being used for voting power. So that leaves Reuniclus and Beedrill up for elimination."**

 **-static-**

The female Gastrodons' cabin door was flung open, and Minun's head peeked inside. "Has Lilligant come back to the cabin yet?" she asked Mienshao. The weasel shook her head.

Seviper glanced down at Minun curiously. "Why are you looking for Lilligant?" she asked.

Minun opened her mouth to speak, but Mienshao beat her to the punch. "That's none of your business," the Fighting-type snapped at Seviper. The serpent Pokemon hissed quietly and turned her attention away again.

Mienshao closed the pages of the calendar and stood up. "We'll go look for her somewhere else," Mienshao said. She pushed the door open and walked outside briskly. Minun gave Seviper a somewhat apologetic look and followed after her alliance leader.

 **-static-**

" **I have to asssume that Mienshao'sss ssstill running her alliance," Seviper said, looking at the camera. "That'sss probably the reassson why Tyranitar went home, and why I'll have to watch my back."**

 **-static-**

"Morning, sunshine," said Scrafty with a grin as he sat down across from Mawile in the cafeteria. They were some of the first to arrive, with Baltoy being the only other camper in the building. Diancie was baking some type of cake in the kitchen that could be smelled from within the cafeteria.

Mawile returned Scrafty's smile. "Good morning. I'm not used to seeing you up so early."

"Didn't feel like staying cooped up in the cabin today. Druddigon's still in there, after all, and I'm sure you know we're not exactly best pals or anything," Scrafty snorted. "I heard today is supposed to be challenge day, too."

"Where'd you hear that?" Mawile asked out of curiosity.

"From the whispers of the wind," Scrafty joked with a giggle. "But seriously, I heard it from Azurill. And she has connections."

"What?" asked Mawile, confused.

"Uh, never mind," Scrafty backpedaled. "Anyways, what do you think the hosts are gonna have us do?"

"It seems like we alternate between indoor and outdoor challenges pretty frequently," Mawile theorized, "so it's not farfetched to think that we might be having an outdoors challenge today."

"Hm. Could be," Scrafty said, thinking about the pattern of challenges and realizing she might be right. He stood up from the table. "I'll be right back."

As Scrafty walked over to the serving counter to pick up a tray, Dusclops and Cryogonal wandered into the cafeteria. They sat at the same table as Baltoy and began talking strategy, though from where Mawile was, she couldn't hear most of it.

Dusclops turned his head and noticed Mawile. "Oh! Hey, Mawile!" he shouted. "Didn't see you there! Come on over, you don't have to sit by yourself!"

Mawile gave Dusclops a hesitant smile. "Um, okay. Thanks," she said, walking over and sitting down next to Dusclops. Cryogonal gave Mawile a curt nod as she joined them.

Scrafty returned to his table with a tray of food and noticed that Mawile was gone. He turned to see Mawile sitting over by Cryogonal and Dusclops, talking with the two of them halfheartedly. He sighed and sat down by himself, stabbing a fork into his stack of pancakes.

 **-static-**

" **It's great that Mawile's in two alliances, really. It gets us more voting power, and…" Scrafty's voice trailed off. He let his head fall against the side of the confessional. "Man, I just get lonely sometimes. I don't have a lot of people to talk to."**

 **-static-**

Lilligant was sitting with her back against a tree in the forest. She wasn't too far from camp, but there was no one else around. It was much calmer out in the woods than back at camp.

The last elimination ceremony had claimed Tyranitar. She still wasn't sure how to feel about that. Despite the fact that they had only known each other for a few weeks, Lilligant felt like Tyranitar was one of her closest friends. Now that he was gone, she felt a bit lonely.

It helped to have her other friends like Lopunny, Vaporeon, and Minun still around, but every time she would meet with Minun, Mienshao always came along and tried to hold an alliance meeting. The alliance meetings usually accomplished nothing; they were just a way for Mienshao to vent about how much she wanted to eliminate someone, usually Reuniclus or Seviper. Because of this, Lilligant found little time to actually spend alone with Minun.

And Lopunny and Vaporeon were always off hanging out with each other down by the lake. Lilligant never wanted to be a third wheel in whatever they were doing, so she stayed away from them for the most part unless they were at camp. Now that Tyranitar was gone, she found herself alone most of the time.

Lilligant frowned as she thought about Tyranitar's elimination further. What was the reason Tyranitar had been eliminated? Because Mienshao wanted it. The only purpose that the alliance served anymore was to carry out Mienshao's plans for eliminating her teammates. Lilligant and Minun never really had any input, but they hadn't acted because their votes were more powerful as part of an alliance.

Yet Lilligant felt as though the alliance was already falling apart. Tyranitar had spoken to her about this before, about how she should leave the alliance. She had considered it before, but now more than ever, it was weighing heavily on her mind.

A sudden flutter of wings snapped Lilligant out of her thoughts. Noivern landed a few yards away and waved. "What's up, Lilligant?" Noivern greeted her loudly.

"Um...not much," Lilligant responded awkwardly. She hadn't spoken much to Noivern before, and she certainly hadn't expected Noivern to approach her like this.

"Just enjoying the peace and quiet out in the woods, huh? That's cool. I'm out here for a bit of flying myself," Noivern revealed. Lilligant watched her with a look of amusement. "It's really nice out here. There's nobody else around to come and bother you, right?"

"Mhm," Lilligant agreed, appreciating the irony.

"Catch ya around! Good luck not getting eliminated or anything!" Noivern shouted, taking off. Lilligant watched the bat Pokemon fly around in the air for a while before getting up and walking towards camp. She didn't want to miss breakfast.

 **-static-**

" **It's been a rough ride, especially with Tyranitar getting eliminated," Lilligant said, fiddling with her leafy arms. "But you know what? I'm going to make the best of it. I've made it this far, and I don't intend to give up just because my friend got eliminated. I've still got friends here to fight alongside me. Maybe with enough luck, we won't lose this time!"**

 **-static-**

Noivern circled back around after a few minutes of flying and landed back in camp. She perched on top of the intercom system just as Castform was passing.

"BOO!" shouted Noivern as Castform passed under the intercom. If floating Pokemon could jump, Castform would have jumped. But she couldn't.

"Oh, jeez. Didn't see you there," said Castform, exhaling in relief after she saw it was merely Noivern giving her a spook. "What's up?"

"Just did some laps around the island," Noivern bragged. "How about you?"

"I watched Reuniclus get the high score on every arcade game in the rec room," Castform admitted. "It was entertaining."

"Nice," Noivern said, grinning. She began to speak again, but her voice was drowned out by Jirachi's shouting through the intercom.

"CAMPERS! IT'S CHALLENGE TIME AGAIN, MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE WEEK! WHY DON'T YOU MEET US OVER BY THE CLIFF?" Jirachi announced.

Noivern was covering her ears with both of her wings. "Dude, come on! I have sensitive hearing!" she shouted.

Jirachi could be heard sighing through the intercom. "I HONESTLY DON'T CARE, NOIVERN. I REALLY DON'T," he said. "IF I CARED ABOUT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU INDIVIDUALLY, THAT WOULD BE TWENTY-TWO MORE PEOPLE THAT I DON'T WANT TO CARE ABOUT."

 **-static-**

" **For once, he took the words right out of my mouth," Baltoy said, smirking.**

 **-static-**

The campers all gathered at the bottom of the cliff over a short time interval. Jirachi and Diancie were both waiting there, the former wearing a pair of sunglasses that were much too big for his small face.

"All right, campers, I called you all here because it would take forever for us to actually travel to the challenge site on foot and I don't feel like watching you guys slowly suffer today," Jirachi said. "Well, not yet at least. I'll be teleporting all of us now."

The host clapped his hands together and the campers each felt a strange sensation pass through their bodies as the surrounding scenery vanished and was instantly replaced by a snowy landscape. A towering mountain appeared before the campers, its icy peak reaching up into the clouds.

"I think today's challenge will be pretty... _cool_ , if I do say so myself," said Jirachi, tipping his sunglasses as he made the pun. Many of the campers collectively groaned.

"What's the challenge?" asked Cryogonal, getting right to the point.

"What an _ice_ question!" Jirachi said with a giggle. Jolteon booed him loudly from the back of the group. "Oh, come on, guys! I'm just trying to break the ice!"

"I don't think any of us are in the mood to sit through more of your puns. It's freezin' out here," Chatot said, shivering.

"Hey, try to keep a cool head," Castform snickered. Chatot shot her a glare.

Jirachi snorted at Castform's pun before continuing. "Now, I _snow_ that you wanted to hear about the challenge, so–"

"Stop," Druddigon growled. "Just stop it with the puns."

"Chill out, Druddigon, no need to get riled up," Castform said with a smirk.

Druddigon's fists clenched as he tried to suppress his anger. "Don't encourage him," he berated her.

Scrafty put a hand on Druddigon's shoulder. "Come on, man, there's no need to be so cold," he said. Druddigon turned to Scrafty with a murderous expression.

 **-static-**

" **I've done it! I've figured out his weakness at last!" Scrafty cackled in delight. "Puns!"**

 **-static-**

"Hey, ease up," Dusclops said to Druddigon. Druddigon turned to face Dusclops, hoping that the ghost wasn't about to make another pun. "Scrafty's your teammate. There's no reason to give him the _cold shoulder!"_

Castform burst out laughing as Druddigon seethed with rage. Dusclops looked proud with his addition to the chain of puns. "Okay, the next person to make a pun is getting a fist in their face," Druddigon growled.

"Aw, but we were having such an _ice_ time!" Jirachi snickered. Nobody laughed this time. "What? Come on, it's funny!"

"You already used that one," Scrafty pointed out.

Diancie sighed and decided to do the explaining, since Jirachi was making absolutely no progress. "Today's challenge is a climb up this mountain," Diancie announced loudly enough for all to hear. "I assume none of you have been to this part of the island yet, though some of you may have seen it during the race challenge as you passed by."

"Huh. I don't remember this area," Chatot murmured. "I must be gettin' old."

"Yes, as Diancie said, you're going to climb up this mountain today," Jirachi said, clearing his throat and taking over the explanation once more. "Now, we don't expect you to climb all the way to the peak. None of you are professional climbers, so it's ridiculous to think that you'd make it all the way to the top."

"So how far are we climbing?" Chandelure inquired.

"We've marked the altitude that you have to reach with several flags. The flags should serve as markers, so when you see one, you know you've reached the goal," Jirachi explained. "In addition to this, we've gone through the trouble of equipping each of you with some basic climbing gear! Aren't we generous?"

"No," said Baltoy flatly.

Jirachi frowned at the Ground-type. "Well, you know what, Baltoy? It was a rhetorical question. You weren't supposed to answer. So it doesn't _matter_ what you think."

Diancie held up a backpack that was stuffed with various supplies. "Inside each of these backpacks is a full suit of climbing gear. The climbing gear is, uh, designed to fit the average Machoke, so I'm not sure how well it will fit anyone in particular here."

"Oh. Great. So I have to fit inside of a Machoke-sized climbing suit," Clauncher groaned. "That's just...great."

"Additionally, we've authorized a...certain group of Pokemon that I won't name...to wait up on the mountain and mess up your climb as much as they can!" Jirachi said brightly.

"So you expect us to be able to climb a mountain in Machoke-sized climbing gear while avoiding the Pokemon you sent up the mountain?" Vaporeon said. "Do I understand you correctly?"

"Yes," Jirachi said. "The first team to make it up there wins! Losers lose as usual. The voting tonight shouldn't be any different than usual, but there will of course be a new loser! So try your best to win and NOT be that loser!"

"Before we begin, we have one last announcement. Those of you who cannot physically climb, meaning those of you lacking limbs, are exempt from this challenge. You will receive immunity in tonight's ceremony due to your inability to participate, but you will also be barred from participating in the elimination ceremony tonight as well," Diancie announced.

"That means Cryogonal, Castform, and Seviper are out of the challenge!" Jirachi stated. Cryogonal blinked and floated to one side of the campers, followed shortly by Castform and Seviper.

"What about me?" Chandelure asked.

"What about you?" Jirachi returned her question, looking confused.

"I don't have limbs. I should be exempt from the challenge," Chandelure argued.

"Sure you do. You've got those weird things that are attached to your head. You know, the things that those flames are on," Jirachi said, struggling to describe Chandelure's form. "Those are limbs, right?"

"No. They don't move," Chandelure informed him.

"Ah. You learn something new every day!" Jirachi said optimistically. "Fine, you can be immune tonight. Everyone else, you're going to have to earn that right!"

"On your marks, get set, go!" Diancie said, beginning the challenge. The campers all rushed to grab backpacks, though some of them ditched the backpacks immediately after realizing that they had no use for climbing gear that wouldn't fit them.

The daunting task of climbing a mountain was quite a difficult prospect for many of the campers; a good portion of them didn't even know where to start. Beedrill tried to stab his needles into the mountainside and climb using those, but his needles weren't sharp enough to pierce the frozen stone wall.

Azurill stuck her tongue into the snow at the bottom of the mountain. She spat some snow out a few seconds later. "Blech. Tastes just like regular snow," she confirmed. "I was hoping mountain snow would taste better."

"Come on, Azurill, get climbing!" Castform called from afar. "Don't make us lose!"

Azurill turned around and winked at Castform. "Gotcha, boss!" she shouted. Azurill hopped onto her round tail and used her tail as a spring to propel herself into the air. She landed on a much higher ledge on the mountainside, and she was higher than most other campers.

"Brrr...it's actually really freezing out here," Castform commented.

"Can't you change forms based on the weather?" Cryogonal asked.

Castform rolled her eyes. "I was waiting for someone to say that," she said. In a flashy display of form changing, Castform transformed into her hail form to prevent herself from being damaged by any falling hail.

"You two are lucky," Seviper said, shaking her head. "Wish I could transssform like that."

"Ha ha! I bet you do," said Castform smugly. Seviper frowned.

 **-static-**

Druddigon struggled to get a grip on the slippery rocks. He dug his claws into the mountain as best as he could, but that was the only thing keeping him from falling.

Much to Druddigon's chagrin, Scrafty seemed to be having no trouble climbing. The lizard was grabbing at rocks and pulling himself up a bit a time. Scrafty glanced down and saw Druddigon beneath him, trying to pull himself up. Snickering to himself, Scrafty kicked the side of the mountain, sending a spray of snow down at Druddigon. The snow landed in Druddigon's face, and the Dragon-type let out a yell of frustration.

 **-static-**

Jolteon and Chatot had traversed the base of the mountain until they had found a slope that wasn't quite as steep as the rest of the mountainside. The two of them began to climb that part of the mountain, as the angle of the slope made it much easier to climb.

"How are ya holdin' up, Jolteon?" asked Chatot, who was above Jolteon. He was holding onto the mountain with both wings in case a strong wind tried to blow him off.

"Probably not as well as you are," Jolteon mumbled. "Climbing is much harder with paws than talons, you know?"

"No. I wouldn't know," Chatot replied.

Jolteon sighed. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't."

 **-static-**

"Oi! Diancie!" Clauncher called down to the co-host. "Are we allowed to use moves while we're climbing?"

Diancie floated up to be closer to Clauncher. "Like what?" she asked.

"For example, let's say I used Aqua Jet. I'd be able to move a lot faster than I would simply by scaling the mountain normally," Clauncher said, playing out the scenario in his head.

Diancie tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know. I'll ask Jirachi," she said, turning to go find him.

Suddenly, Jirachi appeared out of nowhere. "Did somebody say JIRACHI?" Jirachi shouted noisily, his voice creating a faint echo.

Diancie raised her hand. "Ah, my lovely co-host has summoned me. Do tell, what troubles you?" Jirachi asked, leaning on one hand as he floated in midair.

"Actually, the contestants just want to know if they can use moves in this challenge," Diancie informed him.

"Uh, which contestants?" Jirachi asked. "Because if it's Baltoy, then no. But if it were, say, Lopunny–"

"It's Clauncher," Diancie interrupted before Jirachi could finish his statement.

"Oh. Claws. The dodgeball popper," Jirachi said, eyeing Clauncher disapprovingly.

"Dude, that was weeks ago! Just let it go!" Clauncher shouted.

Jirachi shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. Shouting at the host?" Jirachi said, giving Clauncher a mocking frown. "That simply won't do! Let's see...how about this for a rule: no using moves to climb the mountain!"

"You're literally the worst," Reuniclus shouted from below.

"Uh...no," Jirachi fired back, unable to think of a comeback. He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Clauncher turned to Diancie desperately. "Come on, please? My claws are freezing!" he pleaded.

Diancie rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I've, uh...got some paperwork to do…" she said, floating back down the mountain. Clauncher groaned and began climbing again.

 **-static-**

Some time passed uneventfully. The campers continued making their way up the mountain, some struggling more than others. Lopunny and Vaporeon, being some of the most athletic contestants, had taken a lead early on and were the closest to the summit. Mienshao and Minun weren't far behind, though Mienshao suspected she might have frostbite and wanted to complain to Jirachi.

Near the bottom of the mountain were the stragglers; Beedrill, who was still trying in vain to use his needles his advantage, hadn't made much progress. Dusclops was having a difficult time pulling himself up from ledge to ledge. Noivern was shivering intensely from the cold, but she was pressing on at a respectable pace. Druddigon was holding his arms close to his chest and breathing spurts of fire for warmth occasionally. Reuniclus' right arm had gotten frozen to a rock, and with Clauncher's help, he was busy trying to pry it off.

 **-static-**

" **Why couldn't I have had no limbs like Cryogonal? I wouldn't have had to climb the mountain if I didn't have any hands," Dusclops said. "But wait, if I didn't have any hands, I couldn't play rock-paper-scissors. And that would suck."**

 **-static-**

"It sure would have been nice to have Tyranitar for this challenge," Minun mentioned to Mienshao.

"Are you complaining about the fact that we eliminated him?" Mienshao said with a scowl. "It's over, he's gone, I don't see why you and Lilligant can't move past that."

"I'm just saying it would be nice to have kept him for a while longer," said Minun, taken aback by Mienshao's attitude. "He knew Rock Climb, after all."

"Did he really?" Mienshao asked. Minun nodded. "Damn it."

 **-static-**

"How far are we from the top?" Vaporeon asked Lopunny between labored breaths. The climb was becoming more difficult the further they went.

Lopunny glanced up. It was tough to see through all of the snow flying about near the summit. "I can't tell," Lopunny responded. "It might be a while before we finish."

Vaporeon groaned. "Climbing's not really my thing. I was hoping this would be a quick challenge."

Lopunny gave Vaporeon a reassuring smile and helped her up to the next ledge. "Well, at least we're in this together," Lopunny said. "This is a lot easier with two people."

"Yeah, it is. Thanks for not leaving me behind," Vaporeon said, smiling back at Lopunny. She stood up on the ledge, but as she took a step, she slipped on a patch of ice and tumbled off the edge. Lopunny watched in horror as Vaporeon began to fall down the mountain.

Somewhat far below, Chatot and Jolteon were making slow but steady progress up a mild slope on the mountainside. Jolteon heard screaming and looked up to see something– _someone_ , rather–falling directly towards him. His eyes widened as he realized it was Vaporeon.

Jolteon sprinted over and attempted to catch her before she hit the ground. Vaporeon landed directly on top of Jolteon, causing both of them to sink into the snow. Chatot stared in disbelief as his friend pulled himself and Vaporeon up shakily.

 **-static-**

" **Never woulda thought Jolteon was the type ta save someone like that," Chatot said. He shrugged. "But good on him, ya know?"**

 **-static-**

"Are you okay?" Jolteon asked Vaporeon immediately.

Vaporeon stared at Jolteon for a few seconds in shock, but she recovered fairly quickly. "Um, yeah. Thank you," she breathed, her eyes still wide. She wrapped her front legs around Jolteon and embraced him. Jolteon turned red and coughed uncomfortably.

Vaporeon released Jolteon and noticed his expression of embarrassment. "Oh. Uh...sorry," she said, taking a few steps back.

"N-no, you're good," Jolteon said, trying to subdue the quaver in his voice. He caught Chatot's eyes, and the bird smirked. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"We should probably get back to the challenge," Vaporeon said, trying to climb the mountain again. She winced and ceased her efforts as she felt a stinging pain in one of her back legs. "Ow...I think my leg must have hit something."

"Uh...here, lemme help you," Jolteon offered, helping her stand from the same side as her injured leg was on. The two of them began awkwardly shambling forward up the slope. Chatot watched them go for a moment before a strong gust blew through, sending his hat flying off to the east.

"Oh, for Arceus' sake!" Chatot squawked, flying after his hat.

 **-static-**

Lopunny breathed a sigh of relief as she caught sight of Vaporeon making her way up the mountain with the assistance of Jolteon. She had halted her climb to make sure that Vaporeon was okay. Unfortunately, this meant giving up the lead to Mawile, who was doing surprisingly well now that she'd gotten the hang of climbing.

Mawile was much further along in her climb than anyone else by now; the closest Pokemon to her were Mienshao and Minun, but they had reached a part of the mountain that was nearly impossible to climb and were occupied with trying to find a way around it. Mawile knew that she was ahead, but she tried not to get too confident. She was still new to climbing, and becoming overconfident could mess her up.

Mawile reached a flat section of the mountain, and she gladly climbed up onto it, grateful for the momentary rest. Oddly enough, a strange tree was growing on this part of the mountain. The tree was almost completely devoid of leaves, presumably from the frigid weather, but it was swaying from the wind more than the average tree.

Mawile walked over to the tree and examined it more closely. She wasn't concerned about being passed up by anyone any time soon, anyway. Mawile gently touched the tree with one hand. The tree blinked.

Mawile let out a gasp as the tree let out a chilling laugh. The tree's eye blinked some more; Mawile wasn't sure why the fact that the tree had only one eye bothered her more than the fact that it had any. Suddenly, the tree's branches–or arms, as they now appeared to be–started moving, and Mawile realized that the tree was a Pokemon.

"MUAHAHAHA! Oh, your face! Your face when I blinked! That was priceless!" Trevenant roared. He sobered up quickly. "But seriously, I'm gonna have to push you off the mountain now. Nothing personal."

Mawile barely had time to react as one of Trevenant's branch-like arms swung at her. She hit the ground hard and Trevenant's arm swung in an arc over her head. Mawile hopped to her feet and snapped at Trevenant's arm with the jaw on the back of her head. Trevenant reeled back and let out a shout of pain.

"Oh, you're a tough one! And here I was, about to take it easy on you," growled Trevenant. "Guess we're not playing games, huh? I'll skip the warm-up, then."

Trevenant's eye closed, and several blue flames began encircling the Elder Tree Pokemon. Mawile recognized the Will-O-Wisp attack and made an attempt to dodge. The blue flames shot at her, one by one, but each of them missed. Mawile took cover behind a protruding rock on the ledge, but it was only big enough to shield part of her body. She was still partially exposed, and knew she would have to take evasive action once Trevenant made another move.

Trevenant switched tactics and went on the offensive with a Wood Hammer attack. He swung his arms down at the rock, smashing it to pieces and leaving Mawile vulnerable. Mawile took the opportunity to make her own move while Trevenant was recovering, and she snapped at Trevenant with her jaws again. Trevenant let out a howl of pain and tried to shake her off, but she sunk her teeth in deeper.

"AH! OW! OKAY, YOU WIN! JUST LET GO ALREADY!" Trevenant yelled, waving his bitten arm wildly. Mawile released him slowly, and Trevenant scowled at her. "You may have won the battle, but you haven't won the war! I was only the first line of defense!"

"Good. I was hoping for more of a challenge, anyway," Mawile said, smirking at Trevenant smugly. The ghost Pokemon huffed angrily and turned away. Mawile resumed her ascent.

 **-static-**

"Oh, Arceus damn it," swore Beedrill as the section of rock that he had been hanging onto broke off again, causing him to slide down several feet. This was the third time he had accidentally stabbed the side of the wall too hard and fallen behind because of it. As a matter of fact, he was currently in last place, though Baltoy was barely doing any better.

"Come on, Beedrill! You can do it!" shouted Clauncher from much higher up, though his voice could barely be heard over the howling winds of the mountainous region of the island. "We're waiting for you!"

Reuniclus tapped Clauncher on the shoulder. "I get that you want to help Beedrill out, but we really _shouldn't_ wait for him. This challenge is a race of sorts, and Beedrill's not well equipped for this one," Reuniclus reasoned. "We should win this one in his place."

Clauncher looked down dejectedly. "But...what about 'no man left behind?'"

"I never said that," Reuniclus said, rubbing his head.

"I know, but it's a good motto, and I don't like ditching people," Clauncher said stubbornly. "You go on ahead, but I'm waiting for Beedrill."

Reuniclus shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'll see you at the top, I guess." The Psychic-type floated off on his own, leaving Clauncher alone on the rocky platform. Clauncher peered down to see Baltoy and Beedrill battling the elements to climb the mountain. They weren't having much success.

Clauncher slumped down against the ground. "I'm going to be here a while, aren't I?" he mumbled. "Man, it's cold. I wish I had, like, something warm to wear. Like a sweater."

 **-static-**

" **For the record, I'm not a sweater guy. It's just the first thing that came to mind when I said the word 'warm,'" said Clauncher defensively.**

 **-static-**

Combusken flopped onto the nearest flat surface, feeling utterly exhausted. He had spent most of his energy just making it a third of the way up the mountain, and he STILL wasn't at the end goal. Combusken wondered how the others were doing, both his teammates and the other team. He thought he had seen Azurill somewhere up ahead, but he couldn't be certain.

Loud, crunching footsteps startled Combusken out of his thoughts. He looked over to see a shadowy figure approaching through the blizzard. As the figure got closer, Combusken began to recognize its features.

"...Shiftry?" asked Combusken inquisitively.

Shiftry waved his leafy hands at Combusken. "Hey."

"Aren't you that guy who was at the talent show?" Combusken asked, looking perplexed.

Shiftry tapped his hands together nervously. "Well, yeah, that's something I did, but I like to think of myself as more than just a guy who showed up to judge a talent show."

Combusken stood up slowly. "Why are you up on this mountain? Didn't you live in the forest?" Combusken asked. His eyes widened. "Wait, are you one of the forest monsters?"

"...yes?" Shiftry responded uncertainly. Combusken screamed and jumped off the mountainside.

Shiftry peered over the edge after him. "Well, that makes my job easier," said Shiftry. A Combusken-shaped hole had been created in a snowdrift not too far down the mountain.

 **-static-**

" **So Jirachi hired us to, uh, 'spook' the contestants again. Jirachi's words, not mine," Shiftry explained. "And I mean, who am I to turn down some cash? There's a lot of things that money can buy that you can't find in a forest. Like, uh…"**

 **Shiftry stopped to think. "...rocking chairs. That's one thing, for sure," he said, nodding his head awkwardly. "We don't have rocking chairs in the forest."**

 **-static-**

"Of all the Pokemon to be stuck with, why'd I have to be stuck with you?" Druddigon grunted as he trudged through the snow behind Scrafty.

Scrafty chuckled good-naturedly. "Hey, I don't know. You followed me, not the other way around," he reminded Druddigon. The Dragon-type merely grunted in response.

Suddenly, Scrafty heard a thumping sound from behind him. He glanced back to see that Druddigon had collapsed on the ground. He appeared to be conscious, as he was struggling to get up, but he seemed to be in a very weakened state.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Scrafty, looking genuinely concerned.

"Argh…" Druddigon groaned, getting to his feet with some effort. "It's this damn cold weather. It's making me feel weaker with every step."

"Just stick with me, all right?" Scrafty suggested. "I can help you out."

Druddigon shook his head. "We should get Jirachi...I think I should go to the infirmary."

Scrafty seemed surprised by Druddigon's lack of determination. He was usually one of the most vocal about not wanting to lose. "Hey, don't back out on me now," Scrafty said. A smile began to spread across his face. "After all, this is no place to get cold feet!"

Druddigon pushed Scrafty into the nearest snowdrift.

 **-static-**

Chatot held his hat on top of his head with one wing while he used the other to maintain a grip on the mountain. He had definitely lost some time in retrieving his hat, but there was no way he was losing his hat because of a stupid challenge.

Up ahead, Chatot could make out Baltoy and Beedrill. The two of them appeared to have called a truce, because they were both working together to climb the mountain. The two of them were holding on to each other, with Beedrill acting as the left arm and Baltoy as the right. With this strategy, the two of them hoped to avoid having either of them fall back down completely.

"Oh! Hey, Chatot!" Chatot heard a soft voice from behind him. He turned and noticed Lilligant waving to him from a short distance down the mountain. "I slipped and fell down here by accident! Could you help me up really quickly?"

Chatot extended a wing down to her, but he maintained a somewhat disapproving expression. "We're on different teams, ya know," he reminded her. "Ya shouldn't be askin' your opponents for help."

Lilligant brushed some snow off her shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Sorry," she apologized. "But everyone else was too far ahead to hear me."

Chatot nodded understandingly. "Well, we oughtta get caught up. I imagine you lost some time just like I did," he said. Lilligant nodded. "Let's get going, then."

The two of them continued their climb at a quick pace, trying to make up for lost time.

 **-static-**

Not far ahead, Dusclops was chatting with a shivering Noivern. Noivern's early lead had been diminished after she fell behind because of her inability to deal with the harsh weather conditions.

"How are you holding up?" Dusclops asked Noivern, pausing to glance back at her. She was twitching violently, as if trying to mask the fact that she was shivering from the cold. "I have to say you're not looking too good right now."

Noivern's teeth chattered. "W-w-well, you c-could say that."

Dusclops put one hand behind her back and began helping her move forward. "Come on, we're almost to the top," he said encouragingly. He glanced up quickly. "I think. Maybe. Okay, not quite."

"N-not helping."

"Sorry."

 **-static-**

Mawile stood atop the mountain. Several green flags were stuck into the ground (most appeared frozen to the point where they might not come out), so she assumed she had finished.

"Hello?" she called. The surrounding area was empty. The hosts were nowhere to be seen.

A moment later, Jirachi teleported in front of Mawile, causing her to jump backwards a bit. The host snickered at her. "Got you, didn't I?" he laughed. "Well, congrats! You're the first one to the peak!"

"So that means I win?" Mawile asked.

"Yes! YOU win. But you don't really win anything. You're just the first to get here, I guess," Jirachi said. "See, I said the first team to make it to the top wins. And you're not a team, you're just one Pokemon. Part of a team, if you will."

Mawile crossed her arms and sighed. "It's gonna be like that, is it?"

Jirachi nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so. But you're welcome to wait at the base of the mountain where it's warmer."

Mawile nodded and Jirachi teleported the two of them away.

 **-static-**

Lopunny was now the closest to the peak out of all the remaining contestants. She pulled herself up onto another ledge, but an approaching figure caused her to hesitate. Once it got closer, she was able to discern the shape of the figure as Shiftry's.

Shiftry rubbed his hands together and shivered. "Whew. Okay, it's cold up here, so I'm gonna make this quick. Nothing personal, by the way," he said, holding his hands up defensively. He took a step back, and a swirling vortex of leaves formed in front of him. "Leaf Tornado!"

Lopunny hopped up onto the ledge and dodged Shiftry's attack. She struck him from the right with a Jump Kick, sending him flying into the side of the mountain. She followed up with an Ice Punch that seemed much stronger due to the cold weather, which rendered him unconscious. She let out a breath of relief.

"Okay, almost there," she said, hiking up further. She caught sight of a waving green flag and began running faster.

 **-static-**

"ATTENTION, CAMPERS! MAWILE AND LOPUNNY HAVE FINISHED THE CLIMB! THE TEAMS ARE CURRENTLY TIED, AND ANYONE CAN WIN!" Jirachi announced loudly. None of the campers were sure why they could hear him, because there certainly wasn't an intercom in the middle of the mountains.

"Boing!" Azurill shouted as she bounced from place to place. She was one of the few campers who was managing to actually have fun during the challenge despite the harsh conditions. She wrapped her tail around a protruding rock and did a few twirls before continuing.

Diancie, who was wrapped up in a winter coat, saw Azurill do a front flip before landing in the snow at the top of the mountain. "You've finished the challenge!" Diancie shouted over the roaring wind. "Congratulations on third place!"

"What?" Azurill shouted back, unable to hear.

"YOU'VE FINISHED IN THIRD PLACE!" Diancie repeated.

"I FINISHED THE WORST RACE?" Azurill said back. Diancie rolled her eyes and summoned Jirachi to the top of the mountain. The host took her back down and Diancie waited for others to show up.

 **-static-**

Chatot and Lilligant were still traveling together, though they had agreed to split up once they saw other campers so they wouldn't be seen working together. The two of them hadn't encountered any problems in a while, but this quickly changed once a figure swooped down at Chatot and took off with his hat.

"Hey!" Chatot let out a squawk as his hat was stolen. He immediately took flight and pursued the hat thief, who was flying higher up the mountain. He was gaining on her quickly, and once he was close enough, he recognized the Pokemon as a Noctowl.

Noctowl landed on a flat part of the mountain and placed Chatot's hat on her head, giving Chatot a cocky grin. The Music Note Pokemon landed a few feet away and gave her a menacing scowl.

"Ya bettah give that back, or I can't guarantee that I won't knock you flat," Chatot threatened.

"Oh? You would hit a lady?" asked Noctowl, giving him a look of mock surprise. Chatot seemed surprised once he heard her speak, but he stood his ground. "Ha ha! That's cute. You think you can beat me?"

She spread her wings and tilted her head to the side, a crazed look in her eyes. "YOU DARE TO DEFY NOCTOWL, THE FLYING FURY?" she boomed loudly. Chatot wasn't sure how to react, so he just kept watching. "HOW UNWISE. I SUPPOSE I MUST TEACH YOU A LESSON!"

Noctowl flew at Chatot with unparalleled speed. Chatot, who had predicted that she might try that, merely took a step to the left. Noctowl flew right past him and crashed into the wall, knocking herself out.

Chatot plucked his hat out of the snow and held it to his head again. "I really gotta start leavin' mah hat behind for challenges," he remarked. He took flight again and battled the winds as he rose higher.

 **-static-**

"CHATOT HAS FINISHED THE CLIMB!" Jirachi's voice announced a few minutes after the announcement that Azurill had finished. With Chatot having finished the race, the Milotics held a stronger lead against the Gastrodons.

Dusclops was still helping Noivern up the mountain, but he paused to think for a moment. "Wait, Chatot probably flew to the top, right?" he realized. He looked at Noivern. "Why didn't you just do that?"

Noivern looked at Dusclops. "Ch-chatot's not extremely w-weak to this weather l-l-like I am," she stuttered. "I'd p-probably get blown right b-back down."

"Hm," Dusclops mumbled. "Well, I guess we'll just keep plodding along then."

The two of them continued to climb the mountain, inching closer to the top.

 **-static-**

"Ah! You sunk my battleship!" exclaimed Castform. "That's the third time you've won! How do you do it?"

"You always keep your ships in the corners," Cryogonal said. "It's starting to get kind of boring, honestly."

"Hmph," Castform said, frowning. "I'll get you next time."

Seviper and Chandelure were relaxing in a couple of chairs next to where Castform and Cryogonal were playing games. The two of them were talking about a variety of topics, though neither of them seemed invested in the conversation. They were just trying to pass time.

Jirachi reappeared by the immune contestants moments later, this time with Combusken. "That's one more for the Gastrodons," he muttered, crossing out a name on a notepad in his hand. "Okay, so that's thirteen left on the mountain. Shouldn't be too much longer."

"Are we still winning?" Azurill asked Jirachi, bouncing hyperactively in place.

"Uh, yes," Jirachi said, glancing at the notepad. "By one contestant. The Gastrodons are only one behind now."

"It could be worse," Lopunny said. "I hope they're all okay up there."

 **-static-**

" **I like to think that I'm an independent guy, but truth be told, I'm pretty crummy at working alone," Reuniclus admitted. He appeared to have several fist-shaped indentations in his gelatinous body. "Especially when it comes to climbing mountains, apparently."**

 **-static-**

Trevenant was punching Reuniclus over and over again, but his fists only got stuck in the Psychic-type's gooey coating. Trevenant scowled and released Reuniclus.

Reuniclus got up and brushed himself off. "You done yet?" he asked. Trevenant glared, but nodded. "Good, because I'm pretty sure you held me up for at least five minutes."

Reuniclus floated away and began trying to climb the mountain again. Trevenant chuckled as he watched Reuniclus try to scramble up the slippery slope only to fall back down again. Reuniclus shot him a glare and continued along the icy path, trying to find a different place to climb.

Trevenant waited patiently in place for his next victim to come along. After a few minutes, two Pokemon showed up. Trevenant cackled in glee and disguised himself as a normal tree once more.

Scrafty shuffled up the mountain with Druddigon in tow. "Ugh...man, all this exercise is killing me," Scrafty complained. "Even gym class was never this bad in high school."

"I take it you were a slacker in school?" Druddigon asked accusingly.

Scrafty sighed and threw Druddigon a dirty look. "Look, man, I know you don't like me, but can we just _try_ to work together? At least until we're up the mountain?"

"I've been putting up with you this entire time. Don't try to make me look like the bad guy here," Druddigon scowled, glaring daggers at Scrafty. The lizard rolled his eyes and continued marching upwards.

Something caught Scrafty's eye, though–a lone tree growing on the side of the mountain. Scrafty stopped in his tracks and stared at it for a moment. The tree blinked at him.

"AAAH!" Scrafty shouted, jumping backwards. He crashed into Druddigon, and the two of them tumbled down the mountain. Trevenant doubled over in laughter as Scrafty and Druddigon crashed into a snow-covered rock a small distance below. The snow rained down on both of them from the impact.

Trevenant's laughter was cut short as a blast of flames erupted from the snow. A shivering, irritated, and angry Druddigon emerged, stomping his way up the mountain. Trevenant swallowed nervously and began to flee. Druddigon sprinted after him and caught up to the slow tree Pokemon with ease. He grabbed Trevenant with one hand and slammed him into the mountain.

"I've had a bad day today," Druddigon growled, his face close to Trevenant's. "And you just made it a whole lot worse."

Druddigon picked up Trevenant with both hands and slammed him onto the ground. Druddigon opened his mouth and unleashed a devastating Flamethrower attack on Trevenant at close range. Scrafty, who had recovered from the fall before, had climbed his way up and watched from a distance as Druddigon mercilessly slammed Trevenant into the wall again.

 **-static-**

" **Sometimes I wonder why we've kept Druddigon for this long. I mean, nobody on our team even likes him," Scrafty said, nervously fumbling with his hands. "And then I remember that he's one scary, powerful dude."**

 **-static-**

" **My temper gets the better of me sometimes," Druddigon said calmly. "It's something I've been trying to fix for a while, but it's not an easy thing to hide."**

 **-static-**

"SCRAFTY AND DRUDDIGON HAVE FINISHED THEIR CLIMB!" announced Jirachi some time later. A beat up Trevenant had been taken back to camp by Diancie, who had also sternly reprimanded Druddigon for resorting to such violence.

Meanwhile, up on the mountain, Mienshao and Minun had made significant progress. The two of them were almost at the peak. Mienshao looked down and saw Lilligant slowly working her way up the trail.

"Ugh, this challenge is so slow. I wish our teammates would pick up the pace already," Mienshao complained. "And Beedrill's still all the way in last place. He's going to cause us to lose, if he hasn't already."

"He's doing his best, you know," Minun defended him. "Not everyone is good at every challenge."

"But some of us are better at more challenges than others," Mienshao said to Minun. "All I'm saying is that it might be time for Beedrill to leave soon."

Minun opened her mouth to speak, but she knew Mienshao wouldn't really listen. She turned away from Mienshao and continued climbing.

 **-static-**

" **Okay, I've been wanting to get this off my chest for a while, so here goes. I'm REALLY sick of Mienshao's alliance," Minun sighed. "What started off as a mutually beneficial voting alliance has turned into Mienshao using me and Lilligant for our votes. I bet she doesn't even care about us anymore."**

 **Minun looked at the camera defiantly. "And there's no way I'd vote for Beedrill. I'd rather have Mienshao leave than Beedrill."**

 **-static-**

Mienshao reached the summit and extended a hand to Minun, pulling her up as well. Jirachi clapped his hands together. "Congratulations! You've finished the challenge. Your team is still losing, though."

Mienshao scowled. "Yeah. I know."

"Okay," said Jirachi. "See you at the bottom, then!"

 **-static-**

Jolteon and Vaporeon hobbled up the trail further. Fortunately, they hadn't encountered any of the Pokemon Jirachi had said would be on the mountain, and the end flags were in sight.

"We're almost there. Are you okay so far?" Jolteon asked Vaporeon.

She smiled at him. "Yeah. Thanks for helping me out. I'm probably slowing you down, to be honest," she laughed. Jolteon felt a wave of relief after hearing her laugh. "Come on, let's get to the finish."

The two of them slowly approached the end of the challenge. Jolteon helped Vaporeon up first and then climbed to the summit himself. Jirachi was already awaiting them there.

"Ah! Welcome to the finish. You're both done, then," Jirachi said. "There are only three Milotics and four Gastrodons left."

"Oh. We're winning, then!" Jolteon exclaimed.

Vaporeon looked down at the ground. "...yeah. Good job."

Jolteon looked to his right and saw Vaporeon there. "Oh, right. I forgot you were on the other team for a moment there," he said awkwardly. "Uh...yeah."

 **-static-**

" **So stupid!" Jolteon said, smacking his forehead. "If my team wins, that means Vaporeon's team loses!"**

 **Jolteon sighed and calmed down a bit. "I hope she doesn't go home," he admitted. "I just...well…"**

 **He turned red and looked at the camera. "Never mind. Delete this."**

 **-static-**

"Hey! Reuniclus!"

Reuniclus heard a faint voice calling to him. He turned around and saw Lilligant running towards him. She caught up and stopped to catch her breath.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there before," Reuniclus apologized.

Lilligant gave him a weak smile. "It's fine. I just wanted someone to reach the end with, since I've been climbing alone for a while."

"I don't have any problems with that, so you're welcome to tag along. I've been bored, anyway," Reuniclus said, turning around and following the trail.

The two of them walked together for a long distance until they were stopped by a figure limping in their way.

"Hold it...right...there…" panted Shiftry, clutching his chest. "This is...as far as...you go..."

Reuniclus floated up to him and slugged him across the face with an icy fist. "Not in the mood right now. Sorry," Reuniclus said, but his apology didn't sound particularly sincere. He floated right past the fallen Shiftry. Lilligant gave Shiftry an apologetic wave and stepped over him as well.

 **-static-**

"REUNICLUS AND LILLIGANT HAVE COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE! ONLY FIVE CAMPERS REMAIN ON THE MOUNTAIN!" Jirachi announced. "COME ON, FINISH THE CHALLENGE ALREADY! IT'S FREEZING HERE!"

"You're telling me?" Clauncher muttered. He was traversing the mountain with Beedrill now, since Beedrill had caught up with him a while ago. They had made the decision to split up from Baltoy, since he was a Milotic.

Baltoy, on the other hand, was still following Beedrill and Clauncher. He didn't have any grand plan or strategy to win the challenge, so his only hope of not losing was to make Beedrill and Clauncher lose somehow. He was still waiting for the right moment to make them slip up.

"How much taller is this mountain?" Beedrill asked. "It seems like this just goes on forever."

"I'm sure it shouldn't be much longer," Clauncher said, though he didn't sound certain at all. Baltoy scoffed from behind him.

Beedrill turned to face Baltoy. "Nobody asked you to tag along, Baltoy," Beedrill said, narrowing his eyes. "Run along now."

"You're the one who suggested that we work together before to climb the mountain," Baltoy reminded the bug.

"That was _before_ I met up with Clauncher. I recall telling you to find your own way after that," Beedrill reminded Baltoy. "So go. We're not on the same team."

Baltoy scowled. "So what? You're going to–"

"DUSCLOPS AND NOIVERN HAVE COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE!"

The three remaining climbers paused. Baltoy smirked. "Looks like you two are the only Gastrodons, huh?"

"And you're the only Milotic, so don't try anything stupid," Beedrill said.

Baltoy moved past Beedrill and Clauncher. Clauncher tensed up, expecting Baltoy to make some bold move, but the smug Psychic-type did nothing of the sort. He simply floated along up the mountain until he reached a higher ledge.

Beedrill sighed. "We can't let Baltoy beat us up there, or we lose the challenge. Let's go!" he said to Clauncher. He reached for the ledge, but Baltoy floated over and smacked Beedrill's needles off the ledge. Beedrill let out a surprised shout and fell downwards, flying past Clauncher and almost falling even further down the mountain. He held onto the ledge with one needle, but he was close to falling off completely.

Clauncher rushed over and helped Beedrill up. "Come on, we're gonna fall behind!" said Clauncher panickedly. He helped his friend up and the two of them made for the top of the mountain as quickly as they could.

Beedrill caught sight of Baltoy in the distance. Their adversary was moving at a pace that Beedrill had figured was impossible for someone like Baltoy to achieve. It seemed like Baltoy really _was_ intent on not losing for once.

Jirachi whipped out a pair of binoculars and looked down. "Drat," he said. "Baltoy's beating them. That's no fun."

Beedrill looked at the distance between himself, Baltoy, and the end goal. Baltoy was certainly much closer, but...Baltoy lacked the advantage of having the ability to fly. Flying in this weather was going to be dangerous, and perhaps a mistake, but it was his only hope of winning now.

"Grab on," Beedrill ordered Clauncher. Clauncher turned to him, confused, but he held onto Beedrill with both pincers. Beedrill took flight and began shakily flying towards the summit. The wind blew Beedrill off course numerous times, but he remained surprisingly steady in flight. Clauncher held on for dear life.

Baltoy saw Beedrill flying above and swore. At this rate, Beedrill would beat him to the finish for sure. Baltoy looked around for something to help him. All he could think of was sabotaging Beedrill again. He picked up a small rock and hurled it at Beedrill.

"Whoa!" Clauncher shouted as Beedrill was struck by a rock from out of nowhere. Beedrill veered off course and crashed into the mountain as Baltoy made his way into the flagged zone. Jirachi looked hesitant to proclaim the winners.

"Well?" Baltoy prompted.

Jirachi groaned. "You win. The Marvelous Milotics win." The host clapped his hands and all of the campers were returned to camp. Cheers began to erupt from the Milotics, while the Gastrodons seemed downcast at their defeat.

Mienshao looked at Beedrill in disbelief. "What was THAT?" she hissed accusingly. "He beat you with a ROCK?"

Beedrill stood up weakly and glared at Mienshao. "You know what? I really don't want to put up with this shit right now," Beedrill growled at her. He stormed off to the male Gastrodons' cabin and slammed the door. Minun stared at the closed door in concern.

"Oh, that's it. That's the last straw," Mienshao hissed. "He's out. Come on, you two." She grabbed Lilligant and Minun by the arms and began trying to drag them towards the woods.

Minun shook Mienshao off. "No," she said, watching Mienshao with an expression of disgust.

Mienshao turned around and faced Minun angrily. "What did you just say?" she asked quietly. Her left eye twitched slightly.

"I said no. I'm sick of you running this alliance like a dictatorship," Minun said. The other campers were all watching the events unfold before their eyes. "You think you can just order everyone around and always get what you want. I'm sick of it. And I want out."

Mienshao walked over to Minun, scowling. "You don't get to just choose when you want out. You're a part of this alliance," Mienshao said, glaring at Minun. "This alliance is the only reason you're still in the game!"

"No, the reason I'm still here is because I know how to play the game. And I know that you've just made a big mistake," Minun said threateningly. "There are some enemies you don't want to make, Mienshao."

"We'll see who's made the mistake," Mienshao shot back angrily. She grabbed Lilligant, who let out a quiet yelp in protest, and led the poor Grass-type into the woods.

 **-static-**

" **...wow," Reuniclus said, his eyes wide. "I guess their alliance isn't a secret anymore."**

 **-static-**

" **I'm not sure what I just witnessed," Cryogonal confessed. "But it felt kind of good to see someone standing up against Mienshao. She's always so bossy."**

 **-static-**

" **You know what? Losssing this challenge wasss a blesssing in disguissse," Seviper said, smirking. "Now we have an excussse to vote off Mienssshao."**

 **-static-**

Jirachi coughed loudly, getting the campers' attention. "Well," he began, "that was quite a scene, but it's time for the formal announcement. Great Gastrodons, I will be seeing you at the elimination ceremony tonight. Marvelous Milotics, you may all enjoy your stay...for now."

"I wondah what's up with their team," Chatot commented to Jolteon. "Looks like the Gastrodons have more issues than we thought, huh?"

Jolteon looked hesitant to agree. "Well, not all of them," he said.

"Whaddaya mean?" Chatot asked, confused.

"Nothing...I just think it's unfair to group them all as one," Jolteon said.

Chatot stared at Jolteon for a moment. "Ya know, you're kinda weird sometimes, Jolteon," Chatot admitted.

Jolteon rubbed his head with one paw. "Yeah, I know."

 **-static-**

The rest of the evening was tense, particularly among members of the Gastrodons. Mienshao and Lilligant hadn't made an appearance in camp since Mienshao and Minun's argument, and Minun had been locked up inside the Gastrodons' cabin. Lopunny, Vaporeon, and Seviper were all hesitant to go inside, not wanting to be involved.

As night approached, Jirachi appeared in the center of the camp. Most of the Milotics were at the rec room celebrating, so it was mostly Gastrodons gathered in the camp. "Okay, everyone, it's elimination time," Jirachi said. "You've had ample time to make your decisions, and I hope you've decided well. The loser will be walking the docks soon enough."

The Gastrodons all began filing down to the campfire pit. Minun emerged from the Gastrodons' cabin. She didn't bother to glance at anyone as she walked; she seemed to still be angry at Mienshao.

Mienshao and Lilligant had returned from the woods upon hearing Jirachi's announcement. Lilligant looked much more nervous than normal, and Mienshao had an odd air of cool about her, especially considering the tensions surrounding her and Minun. Mienshao tapped Lopunny on the shoulder as they walked toward the campfire pit, and she pulled Lopunny aside for a quick conversation.

"What is it?" asked Lopunny coldly. Lopunny had been friends with Mienshao for about the first week on the island, but the two had grown apart quickly. On the other hand, Lopunny was still Minun's friend, and she wasn't too happy about what Mienshao had said to her friend.

"I want you to vote off Minun," Mienshao told Lopunny.

Lopunny scoffed. "Why would I vote for her? She's been helping this team more than you have," Lopunny pointed out.

Mienshao knew she had to play her cards carefully. "Has she? Minun hasn't contributed much to this team since the paintball challenge, if my memory serves me correctly."

Lopunny scowled. "I'm not convinced."

"Look, this team is more divided now than ever before. But I'm looking to keep balance on this team," Mienshao said. Lopunny raised an eyebrow. "Surely by now you know Minun and Beedrill are in a relationship."

"I'm aware," Lopunny confirmed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You may not have been aware of this. Beedrill is part of an alliance, with Clauncher and Reuniclus," Mienshao stated. "Now that Minun has left my alliance, who do you think she's working with? She's joined their alliance, no doubt. That makes four of them voting together."

"And?" Lopunny asked, though she could tell where the conversation was going.

Mienshao frowned. "That's the strongest alliance on the team. They potentially have the power to vote out anyone on the team if we don't eliminate one of them first," she explained. "They could turn against any one of us. You, me, Vaporeon…"

Lopunny hesitated. "So you want to eliminate Minun to avoid having a dominant alliance?" she questioned. "I'm having a hard time believing you're not just trying to get me involved in your personal conflict."

"You're going to have to eliminate Minun anyway if you want to win this competition. You realize that, right?" Mienshao asked. "It doesn't matter what order they go in; if you want to win, you have to eliminate EVERYONE. I'm doing what's best for the team here."

Lopunny tapped her foot on the ground. "...I know what you're trying to do."

"If you help me eliminate Minun here and now, I'll help you vote off whoever you want in the next elimination," Mienshao offered. "Do we have a deal?"

Lopunny stayed silent for a moment. Mienshao held out a hand. Lopunny shook her head and took a few steps back. "I'll consider it," she said quietly. She walked off and whispered something in Vaporeon's ear. Vaporeon glanced back at Mienshao for a moment before proceeding to the confessional.

Mienshao grit her teeth. This had to work, or it was all over.

 **-static-**

"Welcome, welcome, ladies and gentlemen! This is the eleventh elimination ceremony of Pokemon Drama Island, and boy is it an intense one!" Jirachi said gleefully, eating up the tension. "The votes were interesting, to say the least."

Diancie appeared next to him with a tray of Pokeblocks. "When we call your name, you may come up to take a Pokeblock," Diancie reiterated. "When you receive one, you are safe."

"First off, two of you have immunity tonight. Those two Pokemon would be Lopunny and Seviper," Jirachi declared. Lopunny stood up and took a Pokeblock. She sat down without looking at anyone. Seviper took a Pokeblock with a cocky smirk on her face. She looked at Mienshao on her way to her seat and shook her head.

"Vaporeon and Reuniclus, you are both safe," Jirachi stated. Reuniclus took his Pokeblock without making any eye contact with anyone. Vaporeon took hers and cast glances at both Minun and Mienshao.

"Clauncher," called Jirachi moments later. "And Lilligant."

Clauncher grabbed his Pokeblock and cast a frantic glance at Minun. Lilligant took hers and walked back to her seat silently. She couldn't bring herself to look at Minun or Mienshao.

"Combusken," said Jirachi, tossing out his Pokeblock. Combusken caught it and ate it quietly. "And Beedrill."

The Bug-type took his Pokeblock solemnly and returned to his seat. He shot a glare at Mienshao, and gave Minun a weak smile. Minun tried to return the smile, but it looked more like a forced grimace.

"Well, well, what a surprise. Ladies, you've both been the center of attention tonight," Jirachi said, looking at Minun and Mienshao. "And neither of you have yet received a Pokeblock. How interesting."

Jirachi tapped the tray of Pokeblocks with his fingers. "Well, only one of you can stay. Those are the rules," he said. "The last Pokeblock goes to…"

Minun stared forward, avoiding eye contact with Mienshao. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.

Mienshao wrung her hands, trying her best not to look afraid. She had never been this close to elimination before. As a matter of fact, it wasn't a stretch to believe that she could be eliminated tonight.

Jirachi smiled as he drew out the suspense. Most of the campers glared at him, wanting to know who would go home already.

…

…

...

"...Mienshao," Jirachi finished. Silence filled the night. Many of the campers stared in shock as it was Mienshao, not Minun, who stood up and took her Pokeblock.

Mienshao looked back at Minun triumphantly, the fear in her mind beginning to vanish. "Well, well, look who's going home after all," said Mienshao cruelly. "I hope you packed your bags."

Minun stood up and looked Mienshao in the eyes silently for a moment. She shook her head and walked off to the confessional. Many of the campers began to walk out after her, shooting glares at Mienshao as they went.

Mienshao looked at Lopunny and Vaporeon as they passed. Lopunny was watching the ground as she walked, and Vaporeon was purposely avoiding eye contact as well. Mienshao felt the sudden urge to laugh out of relief, but she held it in.

 **-static-**

" **So the Gastrodons decided to keep me after all," Mienshao declared triumphantly. "I guess they'd rather keep their leader than a traitor. It shouldn't be a surprise, really."**

 **She sat back and smirked. "I convinced Lopunny, Vaporeon, and Combusken to vote with me in the end, and they must have come through. Simple fear tactics worked on Combusken, but I had to play my cards more carefully with Lopunny."**

 **She paused for a moment. "Oh, and I can't forget about Lilligant. This elimination wouldn't have been possible without her," said Mienshao, smiling.**

 **-static-**

 **Lilligant was sitting in the confessional with her head in her hands. She looked even more stressed than she had been after the last elimination.**

" **What do I do…?" she whispered to herself. She sniffled and reached for the camera, shutting it off.**

 **-static-**

 **The camera turned back on. This time, Minun was inside the confessional.**

" **I guess this is it. I thought I could place my trust in these people. I really thought that my team might have pulled together and eliminated Mienshao," Minun said, defeated. "I don't even know what to say. Beedrill voted with me. We tried to get Reuniclus and Clauncher to help, but I don't even know if they did."**

 **She sighed and slumped over. "And Lilligant...please, just please don't stay in that alliance. You know that Mienshao is using you. And you're better than that," she said. "If I can't win this competition, then I truly hope Beedrill or Lilligant can. They've been true friends, even if no one else has."**

 **Minun stood up and waved to the camera. "This is goodbye, then."**

 **-static-**

The dock was more crowded for Minun's elimination than it had been for any other. Pretty much everyone, with the exception of Mienshao and a number of other Gastrodons, was sad to see her go.

A Lapras swam up to the dock, and Minun laid her belongings on its shell. Beedrill walked over and embraced her in a hug before she left. "I'm sorry," he whispered quietly.

"It's not your fault," she said as they pulled apart. "Just make sure that Mienshao doesn't win this, okay?"

Beedrill nodded. "Will do," he said. A few of Minun's friends from the Milotics, like Mawile and Castform, said their goodbyes as well before Minun climbed onto the Lapras to leave.

As the Lapras disappeared into the distance, Beedrill headed back to the campfire pit. He saw Lilligant alone there, sitting with her head in her hands. He heard quiet sniffling coming from her.

Beedrill watched her for a moment and headed back to his cabin.

* * *

This...was by far one of the most complicated chapters I've written yet. The elimination in particular was very tricky to do, since Minun is a strong competitor (probably one of the strongest in the competition), and to top it off, she was well-liked.

The Gastrodons have become even more divided than before, with Mienshao being the cause of much of this drama. Mienshao did a bit of weaseling around (pun intended) to work the elimination in her favor through threats and bribery. However, much of the team is dissatisfied with her staying, so this won't be the last we'll see of this conflict.

A number of characters were very much neglected in this chapter to give the spotlight to others who definitely needed it more. Chandelure in particular didn't really do anything this time around, while others like Minun and Mienshao played huge roles. I promise that each character will get their time to shine soon enough, and most should get at least _some_ focus next chapter.

We're very close to the merge now! Only five more eliminations to go until we get there. Who do you think will make it? Only time will tell who has what it takes!

Fun fact: Minun was never originally intended to be in a relationship with Beedrill, it just sort of happened because I felt some chemistry between them. That's how it is with (almost) all the couples on this show.

This was also the longest chapter by a pretty significant margin.

That's all, and have a great day!

Minun: Don't forget to show your support by reviewing!


	13. Frantic Fight for the Flags

Hello, welcome back! We've made it pretty far. The merge is growing ever closer.

I did mention a while back that I might say who's returning for the second season, so here's the first bit of news: Amoonguss will return for season two!

I know, it's shocking and exciting.

On a more serious note, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

"Morning," Jolteon greeted Vaporeon, sitting down across from her in the cafeteria. He placed a cup of steaming hot chocolate on the table in front of him.

Vaporeon looked happy to see him. "Hey, how are you doing?" she asked.

Jolteon took a sip of his drink before speaking. "I'm doing pretty good," he said. "How's your leg?"

"My leg? It's fine. I haven't had any trouble with it since the last challenge, and Diancie said it's been healing properly," Vaporeon told him. "What have you been up to lately?" she asked curiously.

"Uh, not that much, really," Jolteon said honestly. "Druddigon blew up at Scrafty yesterday for trying to smoke in the cabin, but that's become a normal thing."

Vaporeon laughed softly, and Jolteon couldn't help but smile. It had become much easier to talk to Vaporeon since the last challenge. He felt as though their time on the mountain together had started to form a bond between them.

Vaporeon stood up and picked up her breakfast tray. "I should be going. Lopunny wanted to meet down by the lake again today," she said. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"All right. See you," said Jolteon. He watched Vaporeon exit the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

"Have you seen Azurill at all today?" asked Noivern, flying down next to Castform, who was hovering outside the Milotics' cabin.

"Hm? No, I haven't," said Castform. "She seems to be disappearing a lot lately."

Noivern nodded. "I wonder what she's doing."

 **-static-**

"...so then he couldn't get it off for, like, a minute! So Jirachi was just wobbling around with a bucket on his head," giggled Azurill. The Polka Dot Pokemon was sitting on a couch next to a Spinarak, who was watching Azurill in amusement while eating from a box of candies.

At a table in the middle of the room, a Sharpedo and Basculin were playing a card game against each other. A Mr. Mime walked past the couch, sweeping the floor with a broom. He scowled as the Spinarak carelessly tossed a candy wrapper at a nearby trash can, but missed.

"Hey, is she even allowed to be in here?" asked the Basculin, turning his chair to face Spinarak.

Spinarak shrugged. "Sure, why not? As long as the hosts don't find out, she'll be fine," she said. The Bug-type reclined in her seat and let out a sigh. "You're not going to go and rat her out, right?"

Sharpedo gave her a toothy grin. "Do I look like a snitch to you?" he snickered.

Basculin glanced over at Mr. Mime and chuckled. "I bet Mr. Mime would probably tell the hosts," he said. "Good thing he's a mime, right?"

Mr. Mime looked at the camera and shook his head.

 **-static-**

" **So lately I've been hanging out with the interns," Azurill said. "They're a lot of fun, actually! There's only four of them, too. It's pretty impressive that they can set up all these crazy challenges with such a small staff."**

 **A mischievous smile spread across Azurill's face. "But most importantly, since they're interns, they know a bit about the challenges," she said. "So I get a heads-up before the challenges even begin now! How about that?"**

 **-static-**

"So things have been going fairly well for our team, all things considered," Druddigon said to Chandelure, biting into a sandwich. The two of them were alone at their table in the cafeteria. "We haven't had to eliminate anyone since Liepard."

"Can we not talk about this?" Chandelure asked, looking at Druddigon distastefully.

Druddigon raised an eyebrow. "Talk about what?"

"Eliminations. Challenges. You're always talking about the game," Chandelure muttered, shifting her gaze back to the new book she was reading. "Why don't you go do something else?"

Druddigon frowned at her and got up from his seat. "Fine. It was nice talking with you again," he said civilly, walking away. Chandelure didn't react.

 **-static-**

" **Chandelure and I still don't seem to see eye-to-eye on the way we operate," Druddigon said. "Focusing on the game is important. If you let your guard down for even a second, your teammates can take the opportunity to eliminate you. It's all about winning, and you have to give it your all to win."**

 **-static-**

" **Druddigon? He's a bother. I'm only working with him to secure my own safety," Chandelure revealed. "I doubt this alliance will last past the merge. Once the teams disband, there will be more threats from the other team for my former teammates to vote off. I should be safe without him by then, at least for a while longer."**

 **-static-**

Combusken watched from the steps of the male Gastrodons' cabin as Lilligant retreated into the woods. She had been very distant ever since Minun's elimination. Mienshao hadn't talked to her since Minun had left, and she seemed afraid to approach anyone else, particularly Beedrill.

He glanced down at the dirt, which he had been drawing in with a stick. A simple drawing of Minun had been scratched into the dirt with the end of the stick. Combusken glanced to the right and noticed that the camera was focused on him. He quickly poked the end of the stick into the dirt and scribbled over his drawing, effectively erasing it. Combusken stepped inside the cabin and swung the door closed.

 **-static-**

Beedrill wandered through the woods by himself, occasionally jabbing his needles into the bark of a tree to relieve some frustration. He stabbed one of his needles into a tree and twisted it deeper into the wood.

The sound of twigs snapping nearby caught Beedrill's attention. He flew up into the branches of one of the trees and watched as Lilligant passed by underneath. She sat down on a log in an open clearing and let out a sigh. Beedrill's eyes narrowed, and he flew down.

Lilligant seemed startled as Beedrill approached her. He sat down on a log opposite of the Grass-type and looked at her with an empty expression.

"Did you eliminate Minun?" he asked her after a few seconds. He watched her with a serious expression, keeping his attention on her eyes. She looked down guiltily, but Beedrill's eyes remained emotionless.

Lilligant brought her head up and looked at Beedrill. "I didn't want to, but I had to if...I'm sorry, Beedrill."

"I don't want to hear your apologies," spat Beedrill. Lilligant was taken aback by the venom in his words. "She was your friend, wasn't she? Or do you care about the money more than the friends you've made?"

"N-no, but…" Lilligant's voice trembled. "I had to choose between Minun and Mienshao, and I didn't want to–"

"You chose Mienshao," Beedrill interrupted Lilligant, glaring at her. He stood up and scoffed. "Why don't you run along to Mienshao, then? I hope it was worth betraying your real friends for her."

Beedrill took off into the air, and Lilligant struggled to hold back tears.

 **-static-**

" **With Tyranitar and Minun gone, the influence of Reuniclus' alliance is severely restricted," Mienshao said, smirking. "And there's no way that Lilligant would turn her back on me like Minun did. Beedrill knows that she helped to eliminate two of his friends, and there's no way he's willing to just let that go."**

 **Mienshao seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Still, I do feel a bit bad that Lilligant's been outcast by most of the team," she admitted. "She's loyal, if nothing else. She's stuck with me this far. I suppose I should take care to make sure that she doesn't get eliminated."**

 **-static-**

The cafeteria door swung open and in came Scrafty. The cafeteria was relatively full by this time in the morning; almost half of the campers were gathered there. Mawile waved to Scrafty as he walked over and sat down.

Scrafty yawned and scratched his head sleepily. "So, what did you think of the last elimination? You heard who got eliminated, right?" Scrafty asked.

Mawile nodded. "Yeah, I heard that Minun got booted last time. I have to wonder why, though."

"Me too. I mean, Minun was a strong competitor," Scrafty said. "I don't understand why they'd eliminate her this early."

Mawile shrugged. "It's not really any of my concern, though. As long as I'm still in the game, that's what matters."

Scrafty looked surprised. "Never expected to hear that coming out of your mouth. What ever happened to being a team player?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"At the end of the game, it's every contestant for themselves," Mawile said. "I'm just thinking one step ahead. Of course, I'd like to keep my friends in the game, too."

"We're friends, right?" joked Scrafty.

Mawile rolled her eyes. "Don't get your hopes up." She couldn't help but smile anyway.

"ATTENTION, ALL CAMPERS! THE NEXT CHALLENGE WILL BEGIN IN TWENTY MINUTES! MEET IN THE CENTER OF CAMP!" Jirachi's voice rang through the cafeteria.

Mawile glanced up at a clock mounted on the cafeteria wall. It was fairly late in the morning already. "I guess that's our cue to get ready," Mawile said, looking back at Scrafty. "Want to head out?"

Scrafty shook his head. "Nah, I still haven't had breakfast. I'll catch up with you later," he finished with a wink. Mawile rolled her eyes again and walked out of the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

About twenty minutes after Jirachi's announcement, all of the campers were gathered in the center of camp. As usual, Jirachi and Diancie stood before them, waiting for the last of the campers to arrive. Dusclops was the last to arrive, rushing out of the confessional.

"Okay, that's the last of them!" Jirachi said. He clapped his hands together. "Good morning, everyone! Today's challenge should be much more relaxing than the last two, so there's no need to look all grumpy."

Druddigon tapped his foot impatiently. "What is it?" he asked finally.

"I'm SO glad you asked, Druddigon!" Jirachi said enthusiastically. "Today's challenge is a good ol' game of capture the flag! How many of you know how this game works?"

Most of the campers raised their hands. "Good," said Jirachi. "I'll go over the rules anyway. Each team will be given a flag. Milotics, your flag will be pink. Gastrodons, yours will be blue."

Diancie tossed a couple of flags into the crowd. Chatot snatched the pink flag out of the air and Lopunny caught the blue flag in one hand. "Those flags are important for the challenge. You do not want to lose those flags," Jirachi stated. "You see, in this challenge, each team will hide their flag somewhere where the other team will have difficulty finding it. The goal is to protect your team's flag while also stealing the other team's flag. If, at the end of the game, your team has both flags, you win!"

"So this challenge could go on indefinitely if neither team is able to secure both flags?" Cryogonal asked.

"Um...well, yes. Technically," Jirachi confirmed. "But both teams have to hide their flags within a one mile radius of camp. That means you can't hide your flag in the mountains or anything. The woods and the lake are fair game since they're both close enough."

"What happens if we steal the othah team's flag...but they have ours?" Chatot inquired.

"The game keeps on going until one team gets both flags," Jirachi explained. "Any other questions?"

Baltoy raised his hand, but Jirachi ignored him. "Okay, great!" the host said cheerfully. "Since you're all ready, I'll give each team ten minutes to hide their flag! GO!"

Both teams scattered, with the Gastrodons heading in the direction of the lake, while the Milotics drifted towards the forest.

 **-static-**

"So what's the plan?" Azurill asked her teammates, bouncing on the ground on top of her tail.

"Why not just throw it in the lake?" suggested Baltoy sarcastically, gesturing to the flag. "They're not going to find it that way."

"No, that's stupid. We can't keep track of it underwater," Druddigon argued, shaking his head.

Dusclops raised a hand meekly. "Um, actually we can," he reminded the Cave Pokemon. "I don't need to breathe, remember? I went into the lake back on day one."

"Yes, but you're the _only_ member of this team who can breathe underwater," Druddigon said. "If the other team, which has _two_ Water-types, happens to figure out that we hid the flag underwater, you'd be in a bit of trouble."

"Why not just hide it here in the woods?" Noivern suggested. "I mean, there's natural camouflage all around! We could hide it in a bush, or a tree, or–"

"You're suggesting that we hide a bright pink flag in the middle of a forest?" Baltoy asked. "Great idea, genius. Nobody will be able to find it if we just stick it in a bush, right?"

Noivern scowled at the cynical psychic. "Well, what do YOU say we do, then?" she challenged him.

"Bury it," said Baltoy. "The deeper, the better. They won't be able to get to it easily."

"Isn't that, like, against the rules?" Jolteon pointed out. "I mean, I'm pretty sure the flag has to at least be in plain sight. It's only fair."

"The hosts didn't state any additional rules," said Baltoy with a smirk. "We can do whatever we want. As long as we do it within a mile of camp."

Druddigon eyed Baltoy suspiciously, crossing his arms. "You have a point," he admitted grudgingly. "Jirachi didn't say anything about limitations on hiding the flag."

"Wait, ya can't be serious," Chatot protested. "There's no way we can bury it in ten minutes! And since we've been havin' this conversation, it's more like seven!"

"We won't have time to bury the flag at this rate," Cryogonal agreed. "We need a much quicker plan. How about we hide it somewhere deep in the woods and leave several Pokemon guarding it?"

"So you're basically saying the same thing as Noivern, but you want to have several of us stay behind and guard the flag," said Baltoy dubiously. "The Gastrodons will find the flag easily that way."

"But if we leave some of our strongest Pokemon to guard the flag, it doesn't matter if they find it," Cryogonal argued. "We just need to protect it."

"But we also have to take their flag, so we can't have too many stay behind," Chandelure added. Cryogonal nodded in acknowledgement.

"All right, so let's pick teams," Scrafty said. "A few of us stay and find someplace to put the flag and the rest of us head out to steal the other flag."

"We can't have all of our strongest Pokemon stay behind. If the other team is using a similar strategy, we'll need to be able to counter their guards," Druddigon said. "I'll lead a team to search for the Gastrodons' flag."

Chatot snorted disdainfully. "Who put you in charge?" he asked, shaking his head.

Druddigon turned to Chatot and gave him a defiant glare. "I did. Just now," he said. "Any other objections?"

Chatot met Druddigon's eyes with an equally intimidating stare. The rest of the Milotics could feel the tension between their two teammates. "No," said Chatot after a short pause. "But I'm stayin' back ta guard the flag."

"Shouldn't we have our Flying-types in the sky, doing a search of the island?" Dusclops pointed out. "I mean, since you would have an aerial view, you'd have an easier time finding the other flag."

Chatot sighed irritably and took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll fly around and see what I can find," he said. "Noivern, you comin' or not?"

Noivern gave Chatot a big grin. "You bet I am," she said. "I'm not going to let you take _all_ the glory!"

The two Flying-types took to the air, leaving the rest of the Milotic team in the forest below. Druddigon cleared his throat and picked up the pink flag that Chatot had left behind. "Okay, let's find some place to hide this," he said.

Jolteon stepped forward. "I, uh, happen to know of a nearby clearing in the woods," he suggested. "It's open enough that we could have several guards stationed nearby, and the extra visibility could help us see if any Gastrodons are coming."

Druddigon knew exactly what Jolteon was talking about–he was referring to the clearing in which Chatot's alliance meetings had been held. "Hm. Good thinking," Druddigon said. Jolteon hesitantly smiled at Druddigon. "We'll take the flag there and have several of us guard it. Who wants to guard the flag?" he asked, looking around.

Scrafty raised his hand almost immediately. "I'll do it," he offered. "I'm, uh, not half bad at fighting, so I think I'd do a good job of guarding the flag."

Druddigon narrowed his eyes at Scrafty. "Your results in the tournament say otherwise," Druddigon grunted. He sighed and shook his head. "You know what? You can guard the flag. Who else is with Scrafty?"

 **-static-**

" **Truth be told, I just wanted to guard the flag so I didn't get stuck on the search party with Druddigon," Scrafty chuckled. His expression became serious for a moment. "I should probably get back out there, though. The challenge is supposed to begin in, like, two minutes."**

 **-static-**

Mawile raised her hand. "I'll guard the flag as well," she volunteered. Druddigon nodded at her and she turned to see Scrafty flash her a smile as well.

Cryogonal cast a quick glance at Mawile and decided to speak up. "I'll stay back here and guard the flag, too," he said. He nudged Dusclops in the side.

"What?" asked Dusclops, who had been distracted by Azurill making faces at Castform.

"Stay back and guard the flag. We should stick together for the challenge," Cryogonal whispered.

Dusclops' hand shot up. "Oh, uh, I'll stay back too," he said quickly.

"Four should be more than enough," Druddigon said. "Scrafty, Mawile, Cryogonal, and Dusclops can all guard the flag. The real challenge here will be locating the enemy's flag, so I want most of our team out there trying to do just that."

Druddigon gestured to his five remaining teammates. "We'll travel in groups of two, so as to not be overwhelmed in case the other team decides to fight," he decided. "I'll take Chandelure with me. Jolteon, you go with Castform. Azurill, you go with Baltoy."

Baltoy groaned loudly. "Oh, come on. You can't expect me to go with _her,_ " he complained, gesturing to Azurill.

Azurill wrapped her tail around Baltoy. "Come on, it'll be fun!" she shouted, winking at him. "Let's goooooo!"

Azurill dashed off into the woods, dragging a protesting Baltoy behind her. Druddigon watched them for a few moments before heading deeper into the woods. Chandelure followed him without a word.

Jolteon and Castform awkwardly looked at each other. "So, uh...wanna head back to camp?" he asked.

"Sure," said Castform, shrugging as much as a limbless Pokemon could shrug, which wasn't very much.

 **-static-**

"Okay, we need a plan," said Lopunny as the Gastrodons gathered around her. Many of them were keeping a distance from their fellow teammates–Mienshao and Lilligant looked on from a distance, and Beedrill seemed to be in a particularly bad mood. "We've got a flag to hide and we need to get the Milotics' flag. And most importantly, we CANNOT lose," she emphasized. "We can't afford to lose another team member."

Lopunny glanced at Mienshao as she said this, and the weasel rolled her eyes. Most of the Gastrodons were unhappy with Mienshao's recent actions, and even some of the Pokemon who had supported Mienshao during the last elimination ceremony were doubtful about the decision to eliminate Minun.

"How about we hide our flag in the lake?" Reuniclus suggested. He nodded backwards at Clauncher and Vaporeon. "We've got a couple of Water-types up our sleeves. Er, we've got a trick up our...never mind. At any rate, we have Water-types."

"Good idea," said Lopunny, smiling at Reuniclus. She knew that she had to keep a positive attitude if she were to act as the team leader, especially since the team morale was at an all-time low. "Vaporeon, Clauncher...are you two okay with guarding the flag?"

"Suits me just fine," said Clauncher agreeably. He looked to Vaporeon.

"Um, yeah. That'll work," Vaporeon agreed. "We'll find a place to stash it until you guys get the other team's flag."

"All right, we have two Pokemon guarding the flag. That leaves...seven of us to form a strategy to capture the Milotics' flag," Lopunny said, taking a quick head count. "How about we search in teams?"

"We'll cover more ground that way. I sssay it'sss a good idea," Seviper said.

"Great. Why don't we have Beedrill go with Reuniclus, Lilligant go with Mienshao, and I'll take Combusken and Seviper?" Lopunny prompted. Beedrill glanced over at Reuniclus, who smiled. Lilligant rubbed her arm unhappily, but didn't speak up. "I'll take that as a yes. Okay, let's get ready."

 **-static-**

" **I think keeping the tensions as low as possible for this challenge is a good idea. We need to work together now, not compete to stay in," Lopunny said. "Mienshao's the cause of a lot of tension right now, so keeping her with Lilligant and separating them should ease the tensions. Reuniclus and Beedrill seem to work well together. And I'm fairly certain I can keep an eye on Combusken and Seviper, since they're both pretty calm."**

 **-static-**

"ATTENTION, ALL CAMPERS! THE CHALLENGE IS OFFICIALLY BEGINNING NOW! THE FIRST TEAM TO CAPTURE BOTH FLAGS WINS! GOOD LUCK, AND GOOD DAY!" Jirachi shouted over the intercom, which could somehow be heard all across the island.

Combusken rubbed the back of his head. "I guess we ought to go look for the other flag, huh?" he asked nervously. Lopunny nodded and began leading her team in the direction of the main camp. She didn't know where the Milotics would hide their flag, but she knew it had to be within a mile of camp, so starting at the center wasn't a bad idea.

Seviper slithered behind Combusken and Lopunny. "What'sss the plan once we find the flag?" she asked.

Lopunny shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll make up a plan as we go," she answered. "We might have to battle them for the flag, though. Are you two prepared for that?"

"No," Combusken responded honestly. Lopunny gave him a reassuring look. "Well, maybe. But probably not."

Seviper gave Combusken a confident smirk. "Don't worry, we've got thisss under control," she said. "Thossse Miloticsss won't ssstand a chance againssst me."

Lopunny felt a smile spread across her face. "That's the spirit," she said. "Now let's go find that flag!"

 **-static-**

"If a tree falls over in the woods and no one's around, does it make a sound?" pondered Dusclops.

"Of course it does," Cryogonal replied. "Collisions make vibrations, and vibrations are sounds."

"But what if the tree is enclosed in a soundproof room?" Dusclops challenged.

Cryogonal seemed perplexed. "Wait, is the tree in the woods or in a soundproof room?"

"Don't dodge the question."

"I'm trying to clarify the question."

Scrafty groaned and banged his head against a tree. He couldn't bear to hear Dusclops and Cryogonal talk about stupid questions for the remaining duration of the challenge.

 **-static-**

" **The only thing worse than crippling boredom is having to listen to two nerds trying to figure out whether falling trees make noise," Scrafty said, tapping his fingers on his leg. "Actually, Druddigon is worse than both of those things, but he doesn't count."**

 **-static-**

"Hey, you wanna head out?" Mawile whispered to Scrafty, walking up next to him. "You seem bored."

"Gee, what gave it away?" asked Scrafty, lifting his head from the tree. He glanced over at Cryogonal and Dusclops, who were still having a serious conversation about whether a tree in a soundproof room would make noise for some reason. "Think those two will notice if we sneak off?"

"Probably not. But we should stay within sight of the flag, so that way we can fight off anyone who tries to take it," Mawile reasoned.

Scrafty grinned at Mawile. "All right, cool. Let's go," he said. He reached into his pocket to pull out a cigarette, but realized he had forgotten the pack in the cabin again. "Damn it."

Mawile looked up in surprise. "What?"

"Uh, nothing. Just stubbed my toe," Scrafty muttered. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

The two of them ventured slightly deeper into the woods, hiding behind some trees. They remained in close enough proximity to the flag to keep an eye on it. Cryogonal glanced past Dusclops and noticed Mawile and Scrafty had disappeared.

"Okay, time to get serious," Cryogonal said. He turned to Dusclops again. "You've been noticing that Mawile's spent a lot of time around Scrafty, right? It seems like whenever she's not with us, she's off doing something with him."

"Uh...yeah? She's allowed to have friends, man," Dusclops pointed out.

Cryogonal shook his head. "No, this seems like more than that. I notice her talking to him all the time before elimination ceremonies. She bounces back and forth between talking to us and talking to him."

Dusclops tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Where are you going with this?" he asked suspiciously.

Cryogonal sighed. "I think she's running two alliances, Dusclops. She's working with Scrafty as well as us."

"I think you might be reading into this too much. The two of them seemed pretty close before we even started this whole alliance business. I really think they're just friends," Dusclops said, shrugging.

"That's the point. They've been close for a while now. The two of them probably forged their alliance much earlier in the game, and Mawile probably tried to make a power play by joining our alliance," Cryogonal explained. "Granted, this is all just theory right now. I think we should observe her behavior for a while longer before making any decisions about her position in the alliance."

"You really think Mawile's just in this alliance for the votes?" Dusclops asked, looking uncertain.

Cryogonal frowned at Dusclops. "Has she ever seemed invested in this alliance to you? She only hangs around with us when we're voting, or whenever we want to meet with her. Haven't you noticed that she never chooses to spend time with us? Or that she's practically spending all of that time with _Scrafty,_ of all Pokemon?"

Dusclops remained silent, his eye fixated on the ground. He didn't want Cryogonal to be right this time, but he couldn't think of any argument to defend Mawile with.

"Like I said, I don't plan to act on this yet. There might be some explanation that I need to hear from Mawile that clears this all up," Cryogonal said. "But I've had my eye on her for a while, and I think my suspicions are justified. Let's play this carefully, Dusclops. I only wish for this alliance to help us get far."

 **-static-**

" **Oh man," Dusclops groaned. "Cryogonal's probably right about Mawile, which sucks, because I thought we were cool. I guess it does seem kind of weird that she'd agree to join the alliance but spend more time with Scrafty than me** _ **or**_ **Cryogonal."**

 **Dusclops' eye widened. "Unless she's dating Scrafty or something…? ...Nah, probably not." He settled down. "She's probably way out of his league, anyhow."**

 **-static-**

"So, uh...where are we gonna hide this?" asked Clauncher, holding up a blue flag in one claw as he swam in the clear lake water. Bubbles streamed from his mouth as he spoke.

Vaporeon, who swam alongside him, was currently searching the bottom of the lake for small crevices or something of the like to hide the flag in. "I haven't had any luck finding a hiding place," she told him. "How about you?"

Clauncher shook his head. "No. You'd think there would be loads of places to hide a flag underwater, but–"

"Wait, did the hosts ever clean up the lake after the first challenge?" Vaporeon asked.

Clauncher seemed confused. "Clean up? What, did the lake get polluted? Did I miss something?"

"No, I mean after the diving challenge. I triggered a rockslide during that challenge. We could hide the flag underneath some of those rocks!" Vaporeon said.

Clauncher's eyes lit up. "Nice! We should definitely do that," he agreed. "Man, I wish I thought of that."

Vaporeon gave him a smug smirk. "Well, you didn't. I did," she boasted jokingly. "Now let's go hide the flag."

 **-static-**

Chatot and Noivern were flying side by side above the island, scanning for any signs of the Gastrodons' flag. So far, they hadn't had any luck, but Noivern was hopeful that they would pull off another victory somehow.

"Have ya seen the flag yet?" asked Chatot loudly. Noivern could barely make out his voice over the roaring wind.

"Nope, haven't seen anything!" she shouted back. "Hey, what's up between you and Druddigon, by the way? Things seemed pretty intense back there!"

"None of your business," Chatot replied brusquely.

Noivern flew in front of Chatot, blocking his path. "Oh, come on! Is is it a secret or something?" she pressed. Chatot felt his temper rising slightly.

"We have some unfinished business, him and I. That's all," Chatot answered. "Let's just do the challenge, all right?"

"Okay," said Noivern contently. She returned her sights to the ground and began scanning for any signs of the blue flag again.

 **-static-**

"Would you please let me go already?" came the sound of an irritated Baltoy's voice from the forest. Azurill was walking through the woods, slowly dragging Baltoy along the ground behind her by keeping her tail wrapped around him.

"But you said you didn't want to team up," Azurill said, glancing back at him. "We're supposed to work together, remember? I can't just let you run off!"

Baltoy scowled. "Sure you could. I don't like being around you any more than you like being around me."

"I don't mind being around you," said Azurill optimistically.

Baltoy was taken aback by her response. "Uh...yeah, whatever. Just please let me go."

Azurill giggled playfully. "Nope!"

Baltoy swore under his breath.

 **-static-**

Reuniclus and Beedrill made their way through the forest quietly, sneaking behind bushes and trees to avoid being caught by any wandering Milotics. The duo had bypassed visiting camp, thinking it was too obvious of a place to hide a flag, and were instead searching the woods thoroughly for the enemy's flag.

Reuniclus kept a close eye on Beedrill as they progressed deeper into the forest. His friend had become much more agitated the past few days, and it worried Reuniclus to think that he might be letting his anger control him. Beedrill hadn't spoken much to Reuniclus or even Clauncher recently, and Reuniclus had caught him casting glares in Mienshao's direction more than once.

Beedrill sliced through some obstructive undergrowth with one of his needles, tossing the severed twigs aside as he hacked away. Beedrill cleared the obstacles from his path, but Reuniclus stretched an arm in front of him to stop him from going any further.

"I think we should talk," Reuniclus said, giving his friend a concerned look. Beedrill met Reuniclus' gaze, but his expression was hard to read. Reuniclus looked a bit uncomfortable, but he continued. "I know that losing Tyranitar and Minun in a row is pretty tough, and it's probably been harder on you than anyone. But I'm worried that–"

"You think it's affecting my performance in challenges?" Beedrill interrupted. "I can assure you that my head is still in the game."

"No, that's not it," said Reuniclus, shaking his head. "I don't care if you screw up the challenge, dude. I want to know if _you're_ okay."

Beedrill's emotionless expression softened a bit. He nodded at Reuniclus after a few seconds of silence between them. "Yeah, I'm okay. But I have a job to do now, and I'll do whatever it takes to get it done."

Reuniclus frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"My only goal right now is to eliminate Mienshao," said Beedrill, giving Reuniclus a bitter smile. "She's the reason that Tyranitar and Minun got out. She's pinning the blame on everyone but herself for our losses. I think it's time we get rid of her."

Reuniclus didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then he smiled back. He held out a fist to Beedrill. "You know what? Count me in. Let's eliminate Mienshao."

Beedrill glanced down at Reuniclus' fist hesitantly. "You really want to do a fist bump?" he asked, holding up a needle.

Reuniclus retracted his fist awkwardly. "Uh..yeah, let's not," he said, changing his mind. Beedrill let out a quiet chuckle and Reuniclus couldn't help but smile. "Okay, let's go find the Milotics' flag already. This challenge isn't going to win itself."

 **-static-**

" **I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit angry that Mienshao managed to eliminate both Tyranitar and Minun," Beedrill said, fixating the camera with a serious expression. "But I'm not one to lose my cool over things like this. I may have been a bit harsh on Lilligant, but she's made it clear where her allegiance lies."**

 **Beedrill stared into the camera confidently. "But I'm also not going to let this slide. All it takes is one alliance to bring someone down, and I'm still part of an alliance. So Mienshao better watch her back, because she's going to be the next one taking a Lapras home."**

 **-static-**

Mienshao hummed an upbeat tune to herself as she made her way through camp. Lilligant trailed a few steps behind her, looking down at the ground the whole time. Mienshao caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and she turned abruptly to see Jolteon dart behind the male Gastrodons' cabin.

"Shoot! I think she saw me!" Jolteon whispered to Castform, who was floating next to him. The two of them were checking the cabins for the flag–it was an obvious hiding place, but they hadn't ruled it out yet.

Castform peeked out from behind the cabin and saw that Mienshao was making her way toward the Gastrodons' cabins carefully. Mienshao turned around and motioned for Lilligant to follow her. Castform ducked behind the cabin again and faced Jolteon.

"Okay, do we have a plan?" asked Castform.

Jolteon panicked. "Uh, no," he said frantically. "When would I have the time to come up with a plan for this?"

"I dunno. Just thought I'd ask anyway," Castform said casually. "I already checked inside the girls' cabin, and the flag isn't in there. I just need you to get inside the guys' cabin so we can get out of here."

Jolteon glanced up at the side of the cabin. Mienshao and Lilligant were probably almost upon them by now, so entering through the front wasn't an option if they didn't want to get caught. He noticed that the window was partially open.

"Hey," he whispered to Castform. "Push the window all the way open. I might be able to fit through there."

Castform nodded and floated up to the window. She just sort of nudged it open with her head, enough for Jolteon to hop up and pull himself through. He climbed into the cabin and began frantically tearing the place apart in search of the flag.

 **-static-**

" **Is raiding somebody else's cabin an invasion of privacy if you're doing it for a challenge?" pondered Jolton. "It sure felt like one."**

 **-static-**

The door to the cabin swung open moments later. Mienshao stood there with her arms crossed and a sneer plastered on her face.

"What are you doing in the Gastrodons' cabin?" Mienshao asked Jolteon, who stopped rifling through the drawers for a moment to answer her question.

"Uh...um…" Jolteon racked his mind for excuses. "This...this is the guys' cabin! So you shouldn't be in here either!"

Mienshao rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she said, turning away. "Come on, Lilligant, let's check their cabins."

Jolteon blinked in surprise. "Wait, you're not going to fight me or anything?" he asked.

Mienshao gave Jolteon a bored look. "No. You're not even close to finding the flag, anyway. Why would I waste my time fighting you?" she asked in a condescending tone. She began to walk towards the Milotics' cabins. Lilligant followed behind her silently.

Jolteon glanced back at Castform, who was watching from the open window. "How'd it go?" Castform hissed.

"No luck. The flag's not in the cabins, apparently," Jolteon told her. "Unless Mienshao's trying to throw us off the trail...actually, that wouldn't surprise me."

Jolteon resumed his thorough search of the Gastrodons' cabin, tossing random objects across the room as he looked in every corner and under every bed. Castform watched from the window, looking a little bored.

 **-static-**

Druddigon marched straight towards the lake, with Chandelure following at a distance. She hadn't asked any questions, but she also didn't enjoy being led around the island without knowing anything about Druddigon's objective.

"Why are we heading to the lake?" she finally asked.

Druddigon waited a few seconds before making a response. "Do you recall how we scrapped the idea of hiding our flag in the lake because they have more Water-types than we do?" he asked her.

"Yes," said Chandelure. "I don't have short-term memory loss."

Chandelure's snarky attitude bothered Druddigon–he could never tell if she was taking the game seriously or not. He decided to ignore her sarcastic comment for now. "It crossed my mind that the Gastrodons may have thought the lake was a good hiding place for the same reason we rejected it. Most of our teammates have difficulty underwater, whereas the other team could just station Clauncher and Vaporeon to guard their flag without any extra effort."

"I suppose that could be true," said Chandelure. "Well, you know I can't go underwater, so if you want to search the lake, you'll have to do it yourself."

The lake was visible from Druddigon and Chandelure's current position now. Druddigon turned to face Chandelure. "If you're expecting me to allow you to just kick back and relax because you can't swim, you're wrong," he snarled. "It's high time you actually _did_ something for this team."

Chandelure didn't even blink at Druddigon's harsh tone. "I'm not going in that lake," she said firmly. "You can search the lake by yourself. I can think of at least six other places the Gastrodons could have hidden their flag. You don't need me here for this."

Druddigon scowled, but deep down he knew Chandelure was right. She wouldn't be able to help him in the lake, but she could still search elsewhere. "Fine," he agreed. "Go look somewhere else for the flag, then. But don't come back until you find it."

"I don't plan to come back at all," Chandelure murmured quietly, floating away. Druddigon huffed and continued marching down to the lake.

 **-static-**

"So...what's your favorite color?" asked Azurill cheerfully, trying to fill the hostile silence with irrelevant questions.

"Maroon," Baltoy answered. He had resigned himself to answering Azurill's questions because struggling to escape seemed futile at this point.

Azurill flashed him a huge smile. "That's a great color!" she said happily.

"It's not any better than any other color," said Baltoy.

"But you said it was your favorite!"

"Yeah, but nobody cares what I think," Baltoy said pessimistically.

Azurill slowly unwrapped her tail from around Baltoy. Baltoy let out a sigh of relief as the freedom of having the ability to move his arms again was granted to him. "That's not true," Azurill said. "Come on, you've got to have _some_ friends!"

"Nope," said Baltoy flatly. "Can we just focus on the challenge now?"

Azurill poked him with her tail. "Not until we find you a friend! How can you say that you don't have any friends when you've got a whole team of friends here on the island?"

"I'm pretty sure most of them don't like me," Baltoy responded. "At all. Most of them probably hate me, actually. It's understandable. I mean, I hate me too."

Azurill sighed. "Oh boy, this is gonna be harder than I thought," she said.

 **-static-**

" **I don't think Baltoy's so bad. He's just lonely, so that's why he acts so mean all the time. He wants friends, but he doesn't know how to make them," Azurill said brightly. "So I'm gonna try to be his friend from here on out! I'll make it work somehow."**

 **-static-**

Mienshao stepped out of the male Milotics' cabin. Lilligant was already waiting outside the other Milotics' cabin, but she too was empty-handed. Mienshao walked down the steps in front of the cabin.

"I didn't have any luck finding their flag in the cabins. I didn't expect to find anything, though. Why don't we try looking in the forest next?" suggested Mienshao. Lilligant nodded but still didn't say anything.

The two Gastrodons left the camp and entered the woods. Lilligant noticed the old spot where Mienshao used to hold alliance meetings and turned away quickly. Any reminder of the old alliance only made Lilligant feel worse.

"Shh," Mienshao whispered to keep Lilligant quiet. She had seen two figures in the distance moving around, but it was difficult to tell who they were because of all the foliage blocking her field of vision.

Mienshao got down closer to the ground to avoid being seen as she crept closer. Lilligant also hunched over and followed behind Mienshao. The two of them snuck through the woods until they could make out the voices of the two Mienshao had seen before.

"When do you think Mawile and Scrafty are gonna be back? They've been gone for a while, man," said the first voice. It was definitely Dusclops.

The second voice responded, and Mienshao listened in closely. "I have no idea where they are at this point. In retrospect, we probably should have kept a closer eye on them." The voice belonged to Cryogonal.

Mienshao dared to sneak a peek from behind the tree she was hiding behind. Cryogonal and Dusclops had their backs turned to her, which could give her the element of surprise if she decided to attack. A short distance from them was a pink flag, stuck between the branches of a tree. It was high enough that she would have to climb up to reach it.

Mienshao pulled back and faced Lilligant. "They've got the flag," she mouthed silently. Lilligant watched Mienshao with a blank expression. Mienshao sighed and grabbed Lilligant. She pushed Lilligant's head out from behind the tree and pointed to the flag in the distance before pulling her back.

"You see it?" Mienshao hissed. "We have to make our move. I'll take Cryogonal, but you have to take care of Dusclops," she told Lilligant. The Grass-type fiddled with her leafy arms nervously, but she nodded in understanding. "We move on the count of three."

Cryogonal and Dusclops moved closer to the flag as they continued their conversation. "One..." Mienshao began counting down, "two...three!"

Mienshao leapt out from behind the tree and tackled Cryogonal to the ground. He let out a surprised shout as he was pinned. Dusclops jumped back in fright, but he quickly realized it was Mienshao and a cocky grin spread across his face.

"You DO remember how things went last time we fought, right?" Dusclops asked Mienshao with a snicker. He charged up a Shadow Ball in his hands. "Or do I have to remind you?"

Mienshao slammed Cryogonal into a tree, and he let out a grunt of pain. "That won't be necessary," she said. "I've got my hands full as is. You know I can't fight you anyway."

Dusclops chuckled. "Then it was awfully stupid of you to try this again. Now why don't you let my friend go before this gets ugly?" he offered.

Mienshao smiled at him. "No."

Dusclops looked confused. "What? But you can't even beat me! I'm a Ghost-type, I–GAAAH!"

Dusclops elicited a pained shout as he was struck from behind by a flurry of petals. Several feet away, Lilligant stood surrounded by a storm of petals. She swirled her arms around in elaborate motions, and the petals fired at Dusclops once more. Unable to recover in time, he was struck again, and rendered unconscious this time.

"Might want to give up that flag now," Mienshao hissed, her face close to Cryogonal. He remained silent in defiance, hoping that they hadn't seen the flag yet.

Mienshao brought up her fist and slammed it into Cryogonal from behind. He slumped onto the ground, unconscious. Mienshao scowled at him and walked towards the tree. She climbed up from the base of the tree and reached to grab the flag, but a loud squawk from behind startled her.

From the sky, Chatot and Noivern did a nosedive, aiming directly for Mienshao. Chatot struck her with his talons, knocking her off the tree before she could touch the flag. Noivern swooped down at Lilligant and kicked her into the trunk of a different tree. Lilligant hit the tree and didn't get back up.

"THE CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED!" Noivern shouted triumphantly. She looked at Chatot with a grin. "We're the cavalry, man! Isn't that awesome?"

Chatot shook his head, but he couldn't hide his smirk. "Less talk, more fightin'," he told Noivern. "This ain't ovah till the Gastrodons run with their tails between their legs."

Mienshao picked herself up and looked around to find Lilligant. She saw Lilligant lying on the ground, not too far away. "Lilligant! Get up!" she commanded. Lilligant didn't respond. Chatot stepped between them.

"Game ovah, Mienshao. Ya ain't gettin' the flag," he told her. "Now, are we gonna do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Mienshao slammed a fist into Chatot's beak, sending him reeling back a few steps. "The hard way," she growled. Noivern blinked in shock at Mienshao's aggressive attitude, but she regained her composure and flew at Mienshao, poised to attack.

Mienshao dodged to the side as Noivern flew at her and retaliated by kicking Noivern in the side, sending her veering off course. Chatot attacked Mienshao next, hitting her with his talons twice more before she smacked him away.

Mienshao stood up and brushed some dirt off her back. Noivern flew at her from the side, but Mienshao braced herself and grabbed Noivern, slamming the bat onto the ground. Chatot swooped down on Mienshao while she was occupied and slashed her with his talons again.

"Ya ain't gettin' that flag!" Chatot shouted fiercely. Mienshao growled and leapt at him in midair. The two of them collided, and a fight on the ground ensued. Noivern flew in to assist Chatot, but he seemed to have the upper hand already.

"I'm just gonna, uh, guard the flag, then," Noivern said awkwardly, flying up into the tree and perching next to the flag. She watched the fight between Chatot and Mienshao continue intently.

 **-static-**

Reuniclus and Beedrill were still making their way through the woods. They thought they might have heard the sounds of someone fighting somewhere in the distance, but they hadn't seen anyone else yet. However, as they ventured further, Reuniclus thought he heard a rustling in some nearby bushes.

"Hold up," Reuniclus whispered to Beedrill. He parted the bushes with his hands and his eyes widened.

Before Reuniclus was a sight he never expected to see. Scrafty and Mawile were making out under the shade of a tree, facing away from Reuniclus. All the Multiplying Pokemon could do was stare with his jaw agape.

"What?" asked Beedrill, a little too loudly. Scrafty broke away from Mawile and whirled around to see Reuniclus spying on them. The Hoodlum Pokemon's brow furrowed in irritation, and he stormed over to Reuniclus.

"What the hell, man? Were you spying on us?" asked Scrafty, grabbing Reuniclus with one hand and curling the other into a fist. Reuniclus sputtered gibberish for a few seconds before Beedrill intervened.

"Uh, no. We were passing by and Reuniclus heard something," Beedrill said, yanking Reuniclus out of Scrafty's grasp. "He was merely checking to see what it was."

Scrafty rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh...sorry, then," he said apologetically. "You guys didn't...see anything, right?"

"Anything like what?" Beedrill asked obliviously.

"Good," Scrafty sighed. He turned to face Mawile, whose face was flushed in embarrassment. "Hey, we should, uh...maybe head somewhere else." She nodded and quickly disappeared deeper into the woods. Scrafty walked after her, casting one last glance at Beedrill to make sure he wouldn't follow.

"What just happened?" Beedrill asked, dropping Reuniclus. "I think I deserve an explanation."

"He...uh…" Reuniclus struggled to find words. "They...um...we should look for their flag."

Beedrill stared at Reuniclus. "Okay," he said. "I guess I won't ask, then."

Reuniclus got up and brushed himself off. "It's better that way."

 **-static-**

" **I can't believe they saw us," Mawile groaned, holding her head in her hands. "And it's all on camera, too. Oh, Arceus."**

 **She sighed and looked at the camera. "I don't even know what to say. It all just happened so quickly, and...well, it's not really a bad thing. I** _ **do**_ **like him," she admitted. "But there's no way I could talk about this to anyone, much less my teammates. Cryogonal's already suspicious of me."**

 **Mawile exhaled a deep breath. "I think I need to calm down."**

 **-static-**

 **Scrafty grinned at the camera. "Well, what do you know? Turns out she ain't a bad kisser," he snickered.**

 **-static-**

"Speaking of flags, that looks a whole lot like a flag to me," said Beedrill, pointing to a tree that was visible from where they stood. A pink flag was tucked between two branches of the tree.

"Go get it! You can fly," Reuniclus said. "This should be an easy win."

"Don't jinx it," said Beedrill. He took off into the air and flew over to the tree. He grabbed the flag between his needles and flew upward out of the tree, holding up the pink flag triumphantly.

"AAAAAND BEEDRILL HAS THE FLAG!" Jirachi shouted over the intercom, which was somehow audible in the middle of the woods. Beedrill wondered if Jirachi had hidden speakers all around the island just so his voice could be heard anywhere. "YOU KNOW WHAT? LET'S MAKE THINGS MORE INTERESTING!"

"Usually when people say that, it means that whatever they're doing isn't over," Beedrill pointed out.

"BINGO, BEE BOY! RATHER THAN JUST HAVING YOU GET THE FLAG, I HAVE AN IDEA TO MAKE THE CHALLENGE MORE FUN! NOW YOU HAVE TO RETURN THAT FLAG BACK TO YOUR BASE–AND BY THAT I MEAN THE PLACE YOUR TEAM HID YOUR FLAG!"

"That doesn't sound more fun!" Beedrill shouted. He felt like an idiot for shouting at someone who wasn't there.

"BY FUN, I MEANT FUN FOR ME AND DIANCIE. NOT YOU," Jirachi clarified. "NOW YOU BETTER TAKE THAT THING TO HOME BASE BEFORE THE MILOTICS CATCH YOU!"

Beedrill glanced down in surprise to see Chatot and Noivern shooting up at him from out of the trees. Mienshao was on the ground, shouting up at Beedrill.

"Go already! Don't let them catch you!" Mienshao shouted at him. Beedrill flew off in response, with Chatot and Noivern closely on his tail.

Reuniclus joined Mienshao in the clearing. "I hope he makes it back," Reuniclus said. "We could really use a win sometime soon."

"That I can agree with," said Mienshao, collapsing onto the ground in exhaustion. "Ugh. Fighting takes a lot out of you."

Reuniclus watched Beedrill disappear into the distance. "Yeah, it does," he muttered quietly.

 **-static-**

"Did you hear that announcement? Beedrill has the flag!" Clauncher said excitedly. He had been waiting underwater in anticipation with Vaporeon for the entire challenge, but no one had come for them yet. "I hope he gets here soon. Waiting around is almost worse than having to do something."

"We _are_ doing something. We're protecting the flag, remember?" Vaporeon reminded him. "I'm just worried that he might get caught. The Milotics have Chatot and Noivern, and they're fast. Beedrill only learned how to fly a few weeks ago."

"He'll be fine," Clauncher reassured her confidently. "He's no idiot–even if he can't fly faster than them, he'll come up with a way to get them off his trail."

"I sure hope so," Vaporeon said, resting her head against a rock wall. "I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens."

 **-static-**

Druddigon drew closer to the lake. He had no idea whether or not the flag was hidden there, but the Gastrodons had his team's flag, which meant his guards had failed. The best way to prevent the Gastrodons from winning would be to take their flag.

As Druddigon stepped onto the beach, he heard a voice coming from behind him. "Hold it right there," came Lopunny's voice. He turned around slowly to see Lopunny standing there with her arms crossed. Combusken and Seviper were at her sides.

"I see you've come to stop me from going to the lake," Druddigon remarked. "The only reason I can see for you to do that would be because your flag is located there. Would I be right in assuming so?"

"I wouldn't tell you even if you were right," Lopunny answered. "Right now, you're my opponent. It's my job to keep you from winning."

As soon as she said this, she rushed directly at Druddigon, encasing her fist in ice. She slammed an Ice Punch into Druddigon's chest, causing him to stagger backwards a few steps. Seviper joined in the assault and lunged at Druddigon, biting his arm with her poisonous fangs.

Druddigon growled and shook Seviper off, sending her flying into the sand. Lopunny spun around and landed a kick on Druddigon's side, knocking him off balance. Combusken watched the fight progress from the sidelines anxiously.

 **-static-**

" **Fighting's never really been my forte, even though I'm a Fighting-type now," Combusken mumbled, fiddling with his claws. "I'm still no use in a fight even after all the training Swinub gave me. Druddigon could beat me to a pulp if he wanted to."**

 **-static-**

Druddigon and Lopunny were now locked in an even match; Druddigon had recovered from the initial surprise and was now blocking Lopunny's swift motions with ease. Seviper glanced over at Combusken, who was trembling in place.

"Are you gonna help usss or not?" she asked him expectantly. Combusken looked at her and opened his beak, but no words came out. She shook her head in disappointment and lunged at Druddigon once more. The Cave Pokemon saw her coming and swung at her with one arm, knocking her back into the sand.

Lopunny unleashed a flurry of quick kicks and punches, but Druddigon took the hits like they were nothing. His scaly armor probably nullified most of the damage from physical attacks, Lopunny thought.

Druddigon's mouth began to glow bright orange as he took several more hits from Lopunny. She noticed this and immediately jumped back, but she wasn't quite fast enough. Druddigon let loose a mighty Flamethrower attack, and Lopunny was singed by the flames. She fell backwards onto the sand and struggled to get up.

Druddigon now looked over at Combusken, who still had yet to do anything. Druddigon growled intimidatingly and cracked his knuckles, waiting for the fowl to make a move. But Combusken stood frozen in fear, unable to make himself do anything.

Suddenly, Druddigon was struck from behind. Seviper sunk her fangs into Druddigon's neck, and he let out a grunt of pain before trying to pull her off. Seviper wrapped her tail around Druddigon's arm to make it more difficult for him to remove her.

"Come on, Combusken!" shouted Seviper, stabbing Druddigon with her tail as he tried to pull her off. "I can't take him alone!"

Combusken wasn't sure what compelled him, but he felt himself beginning to move, and before he knew it, he was punching Druddigon straight in the face. The sturdy dragon tumbled over, and Seviper slithered off his shoulder. Lopunny had recovered by now and walked over by the other two.

Druddigon was struggling to get back up. Water from the lake washed over his legs as he pushed himself to his feet. He extended his claws and growled menacingly. Combusken felt whatever courage he had found before dissipating quickly.

Lopunny stepped forward to finish the battle with Druddigon, but the Cave Pokemon was astonishingly quick in his recovery. He bolted towards Lopunny and slammed her to the ground, striking her twice with his claws before leaping back. Seviper lunged at him once more, but he dodged to the side and she hit the sand.

Druddigon took a menacing step towards Combusken, but Lopunny stuck out one of her legs and Druddigon faceplanted into the sand. He snarled in frustration and turned to unleash another Flamethrower at her, but an icy blast from the surface of the lake hit Druddigon and he rolled over onto his stomach, unconscious.

Lopunny glanced over to see where the Ice Beam had come from, and she saw Vaporeon waving at her from the surface of the water. Lopunny let out an exhausted sigh and fell back into the sand, trying to catch her breath.

Suddenly, a loud buzzing filled the air. Combusken turned his head skyward and saw Beedrill flying faster than he had ever seen him fly before, and the Bug-type had a pink flag between his needles. However, Noivern and Chatot were giving chase, and they were gaining on him.

Clauncher popped his head out of the water, appearing next to Vaporeon. "What's going on up here?" he asked. He followed Vaporeon's line of sight and saw Beedrill angling his descent towards the lake.

"Heads up!" shouted Beedrill. He threw the flag as hard as he could, and it flew towards Clauncher, who barely managed to catch it in his claws. Chatot and Noivern slowed their flight as they saw him catch it.

Clauncher looked at the pink flag in his claws. "Wait a minute," he said, noticing the flag's color. "This is the Milotics' flag."

Vaporeon rolled her eyes at him. "We won, Clauncher."

Clauncher took a second to register the events before a huge grin spread across his face. "We won! YES! WE DID IT!" he shouted triumphantly.

"WE HAVE A WINNER! THE GREAT GASTRODONS HAVE OBTAINED BOTH FLAGS! I DECLARE THEM TONIGHT'S WINNERS!" Jirachi announced. He appeared moments later at the lake shore with a snap of his fingers. "Congrats on the win, guys. I'll be bringing you back to camp in a moment," he told them.

Beedrill flopped onto the sand in exhaustion. "Whew," he muttered. "Never gonna do that again."

Seviper slithered over next to him and smiled. "Nice job out there," she complimented him.

Beedrill returned the smile. "Thanks," he said. "It's been a while since we've talked, hasn't it?"

"Yesss, it hasss been. But we ssshould sssave our conversation for later. I'm curiousss about who the Miloticsss will eliminate," Seviper said.

Jirachi clapped his hands, and the campers scattered across the island were all brought together again in the center of camp. Some of them looked more worn out than others, and some of them were entirely unconscious still.

"Oy, Diancie!" Jirachi shouted. "Wake up the campers so I can finish the announcements."

"We already know what happens," Chatot grunted. "We lost, we go ta the elimination ceremony. It ain't anythin' special."

Diancie appeared from the hosts' cabin and began waking up the unconscious campers one at a time. Jirachi frowned at Chatot. "Well, yeah, but you didn't have to ruin my fun," he said. "Anyway, the Marvelous Milotics have lost and will be visiting the campfire pit tonight to eliminate someone. That's all."

The host disappeared in an instant and the campers began to disperse and go off to do their own things.

 **-static-**

" **There are a number of Pokemon who are to blame for tonight's loss. The Pokemon that were assigned to guard the flag, the rest of the search groups I sent out…" Druddigon grumbled. "Even Chandelure failed to do anything this time around. I fought until the very end. Sometimes I think I'd be better off as a one-man team."**

 **-static-**

" **This kinda sucks. If only we'd caught Beedrill, we wouldn't have lost," said Noivern, rubbing her head with one claw. "Well, it can't be helped. I guess we'll have to pick a loser tonight."**

 **-static-**

" **I'm a bit concerned about my alliance's position in tonight's ceremony," Cryogonal confessed. "Dusclops and I did our job guarding the flag, but we were stopped rather quickly. And I don't even know what Mawile was up to."**

 **Cryogonal shifted around in the confessional a bit. "I do know who I'll be voting for tonight," he confirmed. "It's not what I had planned, but I think it might be the best move in the end."**

 **-static-**

Dusclops was sitting on his bed in the cabin, drawing a few doodles in a sketchbook of his while Cryogonal talked to him from the bunk above. The two of them were alone in the cabin, so they didn't have to worry about being overheard.

"I have an idea of who we should eliminate tonight," Cryogonal said.

"I'm listening," Dusclops replied.

"Good. I think we should eliminate Scrafty," Cryogonal told Dusclops. "Out of the four guards who were assigned to protect the flag, who wasn't actually there when the time came to protect the flag?"

"Scrafty and Mawile," Dusclops said. He glanced up from his sketchbook thoughtfully. "So we're targeting him because he didn't guard the flag?"

"That's the obvious reason. But I have a clearer purpose in mind," Cryogonal stated. "I theorized earlier that Mawile may be in an alliance with someone else, and Scrafty is the most likely candidate. By eliminating Scrafty, we may be able to break Mawile's ties to that alliance, if she's really in one."

"But what if she's not?" Dusclops asked. "Then we've just eliminated Scrafty for no reason."

"Somebody has to go tonight, Dusclops. Tell me, would you really be upset if we lost Scrafty?" Cryogonal asked his friend. "He's not exactly a key player in the game. As a matter of fact, he's one of our weakest links. He's bound to go soon no matter what."

"Well, I don't hate him, truthfully," Dusclops admitted. "He's kind of fun to talk to sometimes."

Cryogonal sighed. "Think of the bigger picture, Dusclops. If you want to win, everyone else has to go eventually. The sooner we get rid of Scrafty, the better."

Dusclops hesitated. "All right," he agreed after a moment. "I guess we'll do that tonight, then."

"Good. Thanks for listening," Cryogonal said. "I think this is the best move for both of us."

"I hope so," said Dusclops, looking a bit unhappy.

 **-static-**

" **I've got nothing against Scrafty, to be honest," Dusclops said. "That's the dilemma here. I knew Scrafty was coming up on Cryogonal's elimination agenda, but he's actually kind of my friend. I know he's not very useful in challenges, but he's just fun to hang around, you know?"**

 **Dusclops sighed. "But I guess eliminating him might be for the best. I really hope Cryogonal's right about this whole alliance thing between him and Mawile, or else I'm going to feel kind of guilty."**

 **-static-**

As night fell on the island, the Milotics filled up the campfire pit. Jirachi was already waiting for them there, twirling a tray of Pokeblocks in his hand. The tray bumped into his podium and Pokeblocks were sent flying across the ground. Jirachi stared at the spilled Pokeblocks for a moment before turning to the losing team.

"Okay, I guess we won't be having Pokeblocks tonight," Jirachi announced. "So when I call your name, you can just come up and just kind of stand here, I guess."

The Milotics waited in anticipation for Jirachi to begin calling names. Chatot and Jolteon sat towards the back of the ground. Neither of them seemed worried. Baltoy was slumped over on his stump, looking exaggeratedly bored. Chandelure had the same deadpan expression she always wore.

Jirachi tapped his fingers on the podium rhythmically. "Chatot, you're number one!" he called. Chatot puffed out his chest proudly and walked up to collect his Pokeblock, before remembering they were all scattered on the ground.

Jirachi continued to call out names. "Also safe tonight are Dusclops, Noivern, and Castform!" Jirachi announced. Noivern and Castform grinned at each other and Dusclops seemed content to be called early.

"Jolteon, you're safe, too," Jirachi said. Jolteon sighed in relief and walked up to Jirachi, sticking out his paw to receive a Pokeblock. Jirachi stared at him blankly. Jolteon quickly recalled that the Pokeblocks were not on the tray and walked away looking embarrassed.

Tension began to fill the air as the number of called names grew. "Cryogonal and Druddigon, you're both good to go," Jirachi said. Cryogonal nodded at Jirachi formally and floated next to Dusclops. Druddigon stomped over to the others and crossed his arms.

"Mawile," said Jirachi. Mawile felt relieved to hear her name called. She didn't like being so low in the elimination ceremonies. She glanced back at Scrafty, but he wasn't looking her way.

Only Scrafty, Baltoy, Chandelure, and Azurill remained seated. Azurill didn't seem fazed at all; she bounced in place on her seat, actually seeming excited to be in the midst of the elimination ceremony. Baltoy was staring at the fallen Pokeblocks glumly. Chandelure looked bored. Scrafty was the most visibly nervous; he kept tugging at his pants and his face was more pale than usual.

"Okay, now we're getting to the good stuff. You're all candidates for elimination," Jirachi told the four remaining Milotics. "But with significantly fewer votes than the other two, Azurill and Chandelure are both safe."

Azurill let out a victory shout and bounced over by Noivern. Chandelure floated over towards the far end of the group of safe Pokemon and watched the ceremony continue lazily.

"Scrafty and Baltoy, it's down to the two of you," said Jirachi dramatically. "You've both been in this position before, haven't you? But you've both managed to escape elimination those times. This time, that will no longer be the case for one of you."

"Spit it out already," said Baltoy impatiently. Jirachi tried to ignore him.

"So...the last Pokeblock of the night goes to…" Jirachi began, drawing his sentence out dramatically like usual until someone interrupted him.

"Didn't you decide that you aren't passing out Pokeblocks tonight?" Jolteon reminded him.

Jirachi shot the Electric-type a glare. "You know, this was the ONE moment in the elimination ceremony that's actually supposed to be dramatic, and you ruined it. I hope you're happy with yourself," the host said rudely. Jolteon shrank away from the host.

Jirachi sighed irritably and returned his attention to Scrafty and Baltoy. "So. One of you is going home, and one of you stays to do bizarre challenges another day. The last figurative Pokeblock of the night goes to…"

Scrafty stuck his hands into his pockets and swallowed nervously. He had a bad feeling about this ceremony.

Baltoy punched the ground with one of his arms for no reason. He didn't seem angry or nervous, he just felt like punching it.

Jirachi continued to draw out the suspense. A few campers, like Druddigon and Chatot, couldn't help but roll their eyes at his over-the-top suspenseful pause, but the host soaked up the silence for several moments longer.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Baltoy," finished Jirachi. A few of the campers looked shocked to hear Baltoy's name being called, but Baltoy smirked and floated over to the rest of the safe campers.

Mawile watched Scrafty with a look of shock as he sat there for a few seconds silently. But as Scrafty stood up, Mawile saw his expression change. A sly grin spread across his face, and he dug his hand deeper into one of his pockets before pulling it out; this time, there was something in his hand.

The campers all watched in shock as Scrafty walked over to the podium and set down a wooden idol in front of Jirachi. "Might want to reconsider that," he said, grinning. Jirachi blinked in surprise and looked at the idol.

"No way," breathed Jolteon. " _He_ had the idol this whole time?"

"I don't believe it," scowled Druddigon. "How did he get his hands on that?"

Mawile felt a strange wave of relief wash over her. Scrafty turned to her and grinned. "What? You didn't think I was leaving so soon, did you?" he asked her with a laugh.

Mawile ran over and pulled Scrafty into a tight embrace, surprising some of the campers even more than when Scrafty had pulled out the idol. Cryogonal and Dusclops exchanged a meaningful glance with each other as their third alliance member hugged Scrafty in the middle of the campfire pit.

"Um...well, that does change things," admitted Jirachi. He picked up the idol, which was shaped in his likeness, in one of his hands and faced the Milotics. "The immunity idol, when used, causes the camper with the next highest amount of votes to be eliminated instead of the idol's owner."

Several pair of eyes focused on Baltoy, who had been the next lowest during the ceremony. "In this case, that would be Baltoy," Jirachi said. "Since Scrafty used the idol, Baltoy would go home."

Scrafty shrugged at Baltoy. "Sorry, dude, it's not personal. I'd just rather not go home," he said.

"Unfortunately for Scrafty, this is not the immunity idol," Jirachi said. Dead silence followed.

Scrafty turned to face Jirachi and let out a nervous laugh. "What do you mean? I pulled that out of the chest," he told the host. "You said the immunity idol was in the locked chest, so I found the key and unlocked the chest. That's what was inside."

Jirachi shook his head. "This isn't the idol I left in there. What, did you really think I'd make the idol out of something flammable like wood when we have campers like Chandelure here?"

"I haven't lit anything on fire yet," Chandelure pointed out flatly.

" _Yet._ Exactly," Jirachi said, pointing at her. He faced Scrafty again. "My point is, I left a bronze idol in that chest, not a wooden one. This," he said, holding up Scrafty's wooden idol, "is a fake."

Scrafty stared at the fake idol in horror. He felt his heart sink as the realization sunk in; he was actually going home after all. Mawile sighed softly and touched his shoulder gently.

"Scrafty, are you okay?" she asked him quietly. The other campers couldn't hear what she was saying, but they could tell that Mawile and Scrafty were having a personal conversation.

"I'm fine," he said weakly. She could tell he wasn't really feeling fine, but she couldn't think of any comfort to give him. "I guess it's time for me to leave, though."

Mawile's hand fell off of Scrafty's shoulder as he slowly shuffled over to the confessional. He opened the door and shut himself inside. Mawile stared after him, feeling a bit empty now that it was over.

 **-static-**

" **I don't even know how to feel right now. This completely blows," said Scrafty, looking utterly defeated. "I thought I had this game in the palm of my hand once I found that idol. But it was a fake this whole time. I just don't...get it."**

 **Scrafty sighed and shook his head. "I don't understand how somebody could have managed to put a fake idol in that chest. The chest was locked before I found the key. It doesn't add up," he said.**

 **He let his head fall into his hands. "It doesn't matter anymore. I lost," he groaned. "I thought I played a good game, but evidently someone played me. I hope Mawile can pull through and win this," he said. "And that's all. So...see you."**

 **-static-**

Scrafty was already riding his Lapras off the island into the distance. A few of the Milotics had stayed behind to see him off. Mawile was there, but her expression hadn't changed–she was still shocked by his elimination. Dusclops, Azurill, Noivern, Castform, Jolteon, and Chatot had all shown up as well.

Scrafty had left without saying goodbye to anyone–he didn't know who he could trust after finding out that his idol was fake, and saying goodbye to his friends would have made leaving more difficult. He sighed and stared down at his suitcase. The only souvenir he had of the island was a fake wooden idol. He grabbed the idol in one hand and tossed it as far away into the ocean as he could. He wouldn't be needing it anymore.

 **-static-**

Chatot opened the cabin door to find Jolteon inside, chewing on a pencil as he scribbled in a notebook. Chatot walked over and peeked at it before Jolteon even realized he was there.

"Oh! You startled me," Jolteon said.

"What's this?" Chatot inquired.

Jolteon tapped his pencil on the page. "A list of who might have the idol," he said. "I've figured out a few Pokemon who probably don't have it by now. I wasn't expecting Scrafty to have found anything, and I guess that's out in the open now."

Chatot gave a little nod of approval. "That's good thinkin', Jolteon. We might need that."

"Haha, thanks," Jolteon said, smiling. But as Chatot climbed up to his bunk, Jolteon's smile faded. One one hand, he knew who didn't have the idol, but he still wasn't a single step closer to finding out who did.

* * *

This was a pretty big chapter! Scrafty has been taken out of the game, but not before revealing that he had the idol, though it was merely a fake. This means that the real idol is still somewhere on the island, and its owner remains a mystery.

There were plenty of developments this chapter–Scrafty and Mawile are now official, for one thing. Although that didn't last too long since Cryogonal decided to target him.

Beedrill and Lilligant have also gone in vastly different directions after the eliminations of two of their closest friends. Mienshao seems strangely happy now that Minun is gone as well.

Fun fact for this chapter: I considered giving Scrafty the actual idol for a while, but I figured this was a good way to build up even more suspense about the idol's real owner as well as to create a surprising elimination.

Also, Pokemon Drama Island's first anniversary is coming up! This is a pretty big landmark for me, since when I started this, I never expected to make it nearly this far. To anyone who's read this far, thank you.

Scrafty: Uh, you can review if you want. I dunno what to say here.


	14. Kitchen Calamity

Whew! I was sort of worried I wouldn't be able to put out a chapter this month, and it would be a shame to let my monthly update streak die so soon.

Well, here it is. The long awaited, highly elusive chapter fourteen. Enjoy it, and please consider reviewing if you have the time!

* * *

Jirachi kicked back in his swivel chair and spun around in his little office. The inside of the hosts' headquarters was much nicer than that of any other building on the island, including the rec room. He slurped some smoothie through a straw and watched the campers mill about on a monitor mounted on the wall.

Suddenly, the door to the office swung open and Diancie entered with a phone in her hand. Jirachi spun around to face her and gestured to the door. "Couldn't you at least knock?" he whispered.

Diancie held out the phone to Jirachi. "It's the producers," she whispered back. "They want to talk to you."

Jirachi frowned and took the phone from her. He held it up to his ear. "Hello, this is Jirachi," he said. The muffled voice of the producer responded on the other end, but Diancie couldn't hear her words. Jirachi listened for a few seconds longer before pointing to the open doorway and gesturing for Diancie to leave. The co-host shrugged and floated out of the room.

"Um, yes. I do have a challenge planned for tomorrow," Jirachi told the producer. "What's that? Are my plans flexible? Well, I guess so. Why?"

Jirachi listened in silence for a few seconds as the producer spoke to him. His eyes lit up in excitement after a while. "Really? You'll do that if I change the challenge?" he asked. The producer said something else quickly. "Great! I'll get on that, then." He hung up the phone with a huge smile on his face.

 **-static-**

" **So here's the deal. According to the producers, our viewership is being stolen by some stupid cooking show that Virizion's running. As a result, our ratings are falling," Jirachi explained. "So the producers want me to do a cooking challenge, I've been told. To steal our ratings back."**

 **The host rubbed his hands together in excitement. "And as a little reward, the producers have upped the budget a little bit. Meaning I can finally get that hot tub I always wanted," said Jirachi happily.**

 **-static-**

" **Apparently we have to do a cooking challenge tomorrow," said Diancie grumpily. "And you know who's the one who does all the preparation for the challenges? That's right, me. I have to import a bunch of ingredients by tomorrow or else we won't have enough to do the challenge."**

 **Diancie let out a stressed sigh. "On the bright side, though, this does mean that the sumo wrestling challenge is canceled," she said. "I wasn't a fan of that one, anyway."**

 **-static-**

" **Sumo wrestling?" Mienshao read directly from the challenge calendar. She glanced up at the camera with a frown. "I am not looking forward to that."**

 **-static-**

The sun rose over the island again, indicating that it was morning once more. Despite the early hour of the day, many of the campers were out and about already.

"Man, winning for once feels so nice," Clauncher said, grinning as he relaxed in the rec room with Beedrill and Reuniclus. Beedrill was still a bit tense, but he seemed to have calmed down quite a bit since the last challenge, and he was at least taking the time to enjoy himself again.

Reuniclus nodded in agreement. "I hear you," he said, pressing buttons on his 3DS rapidly. "I didn't realize how much of a privilege not having to eliminate someone is."

"Speaking of eliminations–" Beedrill began.

Reuniclus held up a hand to cut him off. "Let me stop you there," Reuniclus said, taking his eyes off of his game. "Just relax for today, man. We don't have to think about eliminating anyone right now."

Beedrill closed his mouth and sat back, sinking into the soft sofa. "Okay," he said, a bit uncomfortably.

 **-static-**

" **Relaxing is, uh...not always easy for me," Beedrill said. "I guess it's kind of weird to say that, but when there's something on my mind, I can't stop thinking about it. And right now, I want to eliminate Mienshao."**

 **-static-**

In the cafeteria, a fairly large number of campers were eating breakfast. Mawile was sitting at a table with Cryogonal and Dusclops, still seemingly unaware of their hand in Scrafty's elimination. Seviper was sitting at the next table over, talking to Lopunny while Chandelure read her book in solitude just across the aisle at the end of the Milotics' table.

"I can't believe Scrafty got eliminated last time," Mawile said to Cryogonal and Dusclops, poking a piece of toast with a fork gently. She didn't have the appetite to eat breakfast today.

Cryogonal bit down on his piece of toast with a loud crunch. "Well, it was his time," said Cryogonal calmly. Dusclops' eye flicked back and forth between Cryogonal and Mawile awkwardly. "He was being outperformed in challenges by most of his teammates."

"I know, but it sucks," Mawile said. "We were just getting to know each other, and I actually sort of thought we...got along."

"So...you and Scrafty, huh?" Dusclops asked teasingly, leaning over the table. "There's been a lot of gossip about how you two–"

"Dusclops. Not now," said Cryogonal sternly. Dusclops shrugged and leaned back. He was just trying to lighten the mood.

Cryogonal took another bite of his toast. "At any rate, the Great Gastrodons are making a comeback. We can afford a few more losses on our side, but we can't afford a losing streak. We need to take advantage of their numbers and weaken them further."

"Isn't that what we always try to do?" Dusclops pointed out.

Cryogonal shot Dusclops a sharp look and sighed. "Yes. Yes, it is. But I think that it should be said again in light of our recent loss," he explained.

Mawile picked up her breakfast tray and stood up. "I think I'm going to go eat in the cabin," she mumbled. "I'll see you guys later."

Mawile walked away from the table and headed towards the exit. Dusclops folded his arms and shook his head at Cryogonal. "Nice going, dude," Dusclops said sarcastically.

"Don't make it sound like it's my fault," said Cryogonal defensively.

"I'm messing with you," Dusclops snickered. "Man, you're easy."

 **-static-**

Spinarak was sitting in the interns' cabin, knitting a spider-shaped sweater by herself until she heard a knock at the door. Sharpedo and Basculin looked up from the card game they were playing and then looked at Spinarak, expecting her to get the door. Spinarak sighed in defeat and got up to answer the door.

As she opened the door, a familiar face bounced up and down outside. "Hi!" Azurill greeted Spinarak enthusiastically. "I have a new friend for you to meet!"

Spinarak's interest was piqued immediately. "Ooh, a new friend?" she asked in a hushed voice. "As in just a friendly friend? Or as in, like, a _boyfriend?"_

Azurill simply winked mysteriously in response. "You'll have to wait and see!" Azurill said smugly. "Introducing, the one and only…"

Azurill stepped aside to reveal her guest. "...Baltoy!" she shouted. Baltoy was indeed waiting there behind Azurill, his arms limp at his sides. He stared blankly at Spinarak, not knowing what to say. He had been dragged here by Azurill upon her offer to help him make some friends, but he was having second thoughts.

"Hi," said Baltoy, not knowing what else to say.

Spinarak looked visibly disappointed. "Oh, it's him," she said, eyeing Baltoy distastefully.

Baltoy was instantly put off by Spinarak's dismissive tone. "Okay, that's it. We tried your plan. I'm out of here," Baltoy grumbled at Azurill.

He floated away from the interns' cabin and made his way toward the main part of camp again. He had thought it was a dumb idea to believe that he could find friends on this island, much less that he should trust Azurill to do that job for him. But for a fleeting moment, he had felt a glimmer of hope.

Azurill laughed awkwardly. "Well, you know how he is sometimes," she said with a cheerful laugh.

Spinarak nodded knowingly. "Yeah, I remember him from the fear challenge," she said. "He's the one grumpy fellow without any friends."

"Well, that's...I guess that's kind of true," admitted Azurill, frowning. "But that's the thing we're trying to fix here, see. I brought him here to make friends."

"Oh," said Spinarak. She glanced at Azurill and shook her head. "I'm gonna be frank with you here. You're probably not going to have any luck if you're coming here looking for friends. We're busy doing work behind the scenes a lot of the time, and I'm pretty sure your friend wouldn't get along with any of these idiots," she said, jerking her head over in Sharpedo and Basculin's direction. The two Water-types were guffawing loudly at something on the TV.

Azurill looked a bit disappointed, but Spinarak wasn't finished speaking. "But you might have a little more luck if you try opening up to him. If you reveal more about yourself to him, maybe he'll open up to you."

Azurill's eyes widened. "Whoa, that's actually a really smart idea! Are you secretly some sort of genius?" asked Azurill suspiciously.

Spinarak smirked to herself. "Heh. Well, I like to think so."

"I should probably run," Azurill told her friend abruptly. "See ya!"

Azurill bounded off in the opposite direction suddenly. Spinarak watched her run off, at a bit of a loss for words.

"That girl is something else," Spinarak muttered, closing the cabin door as she crawled back inside. "I can't quite wrap my brain around what goes on in her head."

 **-static-**

" **I can't get Azurill to leave me alone lately," Baltoy complained. "It's gotten to the point where the confessional is literally the only place I can escape to."**

 **He heard someone knocking on the door to the confessional. "Hey, can you let someone else in there?" came Mienshao's voice. "You've been hogging the confessional all morning!"**

" **Well, there goes that plan," groaned Baltoy.**

 **-static-**

Chatot was pacing back and forth in the woods just outside of camp. Jolteon sat on a nearby tree stump, staring idly into the distance. Chatot was humming a familiar tune to himself until he heard the loud flapping of wings descending from above.

"Hey, guys! What is UP?" shouted Noivern, grinning at her two teammates. Jolteon shrugged shyly and didn't say anything.

"Hey. What brings you out here?" Chatot asked curiously.

Noivern stuck out her tongue randomly. "I dunno. I was about to ask you the same thing, actually! Haha," she laughed. "That's crazy."

"Jolteon an' I were just hangin' out," Chatot explained. "We do that a lot out here. I thought you'd have been with Castform an' Azurill like usual?"

"Azurill's been wandering off a lot more lately. And Castform's gonna play some nerd game with Cryogonal and Dusclops against some of the Gastrodons. They're playing Reuniclus, Clauncher, and Beedrill, I think," Noivern said, tapping her chin.

"So you're just out here due ta boredom, is that what you're sayin'?" Chatot summarized.

"Pretty much," Noivern agreed. Her eyes widened as she looked over at Jolteon. "YO! Are those barbecue chips? I thought we were out of those on the island!"

Jolteon glanced at the bag in his paw. "It's empty," he said, turning it upside-down. A few crumbs fell into the dirt. Jolteon looked at them sadly. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"So, like, quick thing before I go," Noivern said to Chatot. "You're working independently for the most part, right? Like, just you and Jolteon?"

"By definition, that's not independently," Chatot pointed out. "But yeah."

Noivern shook her head. "Whatever. So I was wondering if you guys maybe wanted to work together and stuff? Because we're getting close to the halfway point and all. It's gonna get crazy."

"Why are you asking this now?" Jolteon piped up. "And why from us?"

"You're, like, the people I trust the most on this team right now. That I'm not already working with, I mean," Noivern told them. "Cryogonal always seems like he's scheming something, and Chandelure's kinda a wet blanket. So's Baltoy, actually. And Druddigon's kinda passive-aggressive whenever I try to talk to him. Don't think he likes me much," she said, rubbing her head.

"Okay, ya made your point," Chatot said, waving his wing to hush her. "I'll think about it, all right? This ain't really somethin' I can make my mind up about just yet."

Noivern grinned at him. "Cool! But just think about it: it would be totally sick if both of us worked together! We could be, like, be a dynamic duo! The fantastic fliers!"

"What about me?" asked Jolteon awkwardly.

"Oh! Well, we could make you a set of wings so you could fly, too!" Noivern said.

Jolteon stared at her blankly. "Not what I meant," he muttered. "But okay."

Noivern waved frantically at Chatot and Jolteon one more time before taking off into the air. Chatot tapped his beak with one wing, deep in thought.

 **-static-**

" **I've made it this far with my current alliance, which is just Jolteon an' I," Chatot said. "So I don't feel the need ta include Noivern in that, but at the same time, we** _ **would**_ **be able ta do more with her there."**

 **The bird shrugged. "I dunno what ta say yet. I guess I'll see whethah or not this would really benefit me."**

 **-static-**

"ATTENTION, EVERYONE! PLEASE REPORT TO THE CAFETERIA! YOUR CHALLENGE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" Jirachi announced. Vaporeon was woken up by the sound of his voice and accidentally smacked her head against the bunk above her.

"Ow," Vaporeon whispered, rubbing her head tenderly. She looked out the window. Lilligant was slowly walking towards the cafeteria. Her cabin was empty, so Vaporeon figured her teammates must have gone to eat already.

Jirachi cleared his throat loudly over the intercom several times before continuing his announcement. "IF YOU DON'T GET TO THE CAFETERIA IN THE NEXT MINUTE, YOU'RE AUTOMATICALLY ELIMINATED!"

Vaporeon immediately scrambled out of bed and charged for the door.

 **-static-**

The host smirked to himself as he watched campers pour through the doors into the cafeteria. "I had a feeling that would get the stragglers in here a bit faster," he said smugly. "I should threaten automatic elimination more often."

Seviper eyed Jirachi distastefully from the Gastrodons' table. "Isss it time for the challenge already?" she asked with a frown.

"Yep! You guessed it, Seviper! So you win a rubber Ducklett!" Jirachi said gleefully. He tossed a rubber Ducklett at Seviper. It bounced off of her face and landed on her pancakes.

"What doesss thisss have to do with the challenge?" Seviper sighed, picking up the Ducklett with her tail.

"Nothing! It was a false clue to throw you off the trail!" Jirachi giggled. "Also, I just so happened to have that lying around and wanted to throw it at something."

Vaporeon was the last camper to walk through the doors. She didn't seem to be very awake, slumping down in her seat next to Lopunny and closing her eyes again.

Jirachi clapped his hands together. "Well!" he said excitedly. "Brand new day, huh? How about a brand new challenge to go with it? How's that sound?" he asked.

The host was met with silence. Chandelure finally spoke up. "Nobody wants a challenge," she said bluntly.

"WELL, I'M JUST SO GLAD I ASKED, THEN," Jirachi snapped moodily. "GOSH! You people are just so...ugh! Diancie, you do the talking!"

Diancie floated up next to Jirachi. "Okay, so today's challenge is a cooking challenge," the co-host told the campers. "Each team will have to cook something up for both Jirachi and I to sample. We'll rate the foods on a scale of one to ten, and the team with the most points wins."

"That seems deceptively simple," said Cryogonal warily. "No extra rules or anything?"

"Well, obviously you can't try to poison us. I mean, Jirachi's already immune to poison anyway, but…" Diancie trailed off. "Just...don't put poison in my food. Please."

"Wait, we're actually having a cooking challenge?" asked Dusclops, his eye glimmering with excitement. "Nice!"

"Correct," said Diancie, smiling at Dusclops. "It's up to each team to determine how much food they want to prepare. Making more food will require more time, but the more food you have, the more points you can potentially get."

"What's the time limit, then?" Clauncher asked, raising a claw.

"Uh...however long it takes for us to get bored," said Diancie, glancing at Jirachi. "Probably. That's okay, right?"

"That is perfectly acceptable," Jirachi mumbled grumpily.

Clauncher didn't look very satisfied with that answer, but the doors to the cafeteria suddenly swung open again and a large crate appeared in the doorway. Someone on the other side seemed to be struggling to fit the crate through the door, but eventually it was squeezed through and Mr. Mime pushed it past the hosts and into the kitchen.

"What was that?" Combusken asked, eyeing the crate as it disappeared into the kitchen.

"That, my friend, is PART OF YOUR CHALLENGE!" shouted Jirachi, throwing his hands in the air.

"You don't have to shout. We're right here," Lopunny called from her table. Jirachi did a mental calculation of the distance between them and discerned that he did not, in fact, need to shout.

"Well, okay," Jirachi said. "Anyways, inside that crate is some food imported straight from Alola for your challenge today! I spared no expense with this one, no sirree!"

"Alola?" asked Dusclops aloud.

"Never you mind that," said Jirachi dismissively. "Also, I did actually spare some expenses. I'm not an idiot. I know how to make a budget last."

"Understanding budgetary limitations does not qualify you for not being an idiot," Baltoy said.

Jirachi turned to Baltoy, visibly seething but also trying very hard to maintain his usual charisma. "I can invent a reason to eliminate you right now, mister," Jirachi said, trying to look serious.

"We're not allowed to do that, actually," Diancie reminded Jirachi meekly.

"Damn it, Diancie, you're supposed to be be on my side," Jirachi sighed in defeat. "Whatever. Anyways, with what's inside that crate and everything else that's already in the kitchen, you should be all set to cook to your heart's content."

"So we're just supposed ta cook somethin'? And ya pick whichever team's meal ya like bettah to win?" asked Chatot skeptically.

"That is the gist of it, yes," said Jirachi. "Any other questions?"

"How are we supposed to know what to cook? We don't even know what you and Diancie like to eat," Castform pointed out.

"Try a little bit of everything, then!" Jirachi suggested. "Giving away all the answers is never any fun."

"I could really go for a pastry right now, actually," Diancie admitted. Jirachi shot her a look.

"Is that everything?" Lopunny asked.

"Yeah, that'll do for an explanation," Jirachi said. He pulled out a megaphone and held an airhorn up to the end of it with his other hand. "On your marks, get set, GO!" he shouted, blasting the airhorn into the megaphone on "go."

The campers rushed into the kitchen and began tearing through the crate (which was now lying on the floor of the kitchen and had been opened), trying to grab as many supplies as possible. Vaporeon trudged after the rest of her team, her eyes only half open.

 **-static-**

" **Cooking was NOT on the agenda," said Mienshao, tapping the challenge calendar with her hands. "And that does unfortunately mean I wasn't really prepared for this. But I guess that puts me back on the same page as everyone else, so we're not completely doomed."**

 **-static-**

" **Oh, man," Jolteon groaned, his stomach growling. "I totally forgot to get breakfast today. I have a killer stomachache now. I just need something to eat."**

 **He looked at the empty bag of barbecue chips in his hand with a look of longing. "I wish I had saved these for later," he moaned. "And by later, I mean now."**

 **-static-**

"Grab everything you can, everyone," Mienshao commanded her teammates. "Even if we can't use it, anything we take away from the Milotics is something they can't use."

"That's sort of a slimy strategy," said Reuniclus, not thrilled at the idea.

Mienshao narrowed her eyes at him. "Just do it already. I didn't ask for your opinion," she snapped. Reuniclus held up his hands submissively and began digging through the crate's contents again.

"There are a lot of berries in here," Lopunny said, pulling out several bags of berries. "If we get enough of these, we might be able to make a salad or a soup."

"Good thinking," Mienshao said. "Keep looking, everyone!"

The Milotics were also feverishly rooting through the crate. Mawile pulled out a bag of frosting and some cupcake batter. "I...think this speaks for itself," she said, handing them off to Dusclops, who took them over to the counter where the Milotics were beginning to sort through their supplies.

"Cupcake batter...so we could prepare some cupcakes as a dessert," said Druddigon, formulating a plan as he looked over the ingredients. "And with this much meat, we ought to be able to make something meat-based."

"Wait, is that actual meat?" asked Castform as Druddigon turned over a lump of frozen meat in his hands.

"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Druddigon bluntly.

Chatot snatched it out of Druddigon's claws. "No, it's an artificial meat substitute," the bird confirmed after reading a label. "I think the hosts mighta had some viewah complaints if they had used real meat."

"All right, cool! I call dibs on the main dish," said Noivern, grinning as she tore through the pile of food supplies. "I can make a KILLER pasta dish."

"Are you certain you can handle this?" asked Druddigon doubtfully. "I've never once seen you cook something on this island."

"Well, I've never seen you cook anything either, but someone's gotta do it," Noivern said. "So I volunteer myself! Who wants to help out?"

"I'll help you out," Castform offered. Noivern nodded vigorously and looked at Azurill.

"Ooh! Baltoy and I will help, too!" Azurill volunteered, dragging Baltoy along with her. "C'mon, Baltoy!"

"Let go of me!" Baltoy said irritably as he was ensnared by Azurill's tail, which he struggled vainly to escape.

"Alas, your flailing is no match for the power of my friendship!" Azurill exclaimed.

"I don't even know how to cook anything!" said Baltoy desperately.

"Nothing at all?" prompted Dusclops.

"No," sighed Baltoy. "Cooking is not one of my talents."

"Useless," Druddigon scowled at the clay Pokemon. "Let's get everyone else split up into groups. Noivern's already assembled a team for her pasta dish. I'll take charge of making an appetizer, and I trust that Mawile can handle some kind of dessert."

"Can do," Mawile said, giving Druddigon a thumbs-up. "I'll take Dusclops and Cryogonal, if that's all right."

"That will be fine," Druddigon agreed, turning to Chatot, Jolteon, and Chandelure. "That leaves you three to work with me."

"Suppose there ain't much of a choice," grumbled Chatot. "Let's get ta work, then."

 **-static-**

"Hm...I've got some Rawst berry extract that we can use," Reuniclus muttered, holding up a can.

"What use could we _possibly_ have for that?" sighed Mienshao. "Is that the best we have?"

"Probably. Dusclops stole most of the food from the pile," Reuniclus replied, gesturing over to a Dusclops who had his hands full with various edible substances. "So we only have what's left."

"On the bright side, we got a frying pan," said Lopunny, holding up the aforementioned frying pan.

Mienshao narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "And just what are we going to use _that_ for?" she sneered.

Lopunny glanced at the pan in her hand and then back to Mienshao. "I honestly have no idea," said Lopunny, shrugging. Mienshao groaned in frustration and looked at what the Gastrodons had gathered.

"Uh, we should probably come up with a plan quickly, guys," Clauncher said. "The other team's already starting to make their food!"

The Gastrodons all looked over to see Druddigon, Chatot, Jolteon, and Chandelure whipping up some type of salad over on one side of the kitchen.

"Does it really take four of us to make a salad?" Chandelure asked sarcastically.

"I think our time could be bettah spent tryin' ta make somethin' else," Chatot suggested to Druddigon.

Druddigon dumped some lettuce into a bowl and stared at it. "I've never made a salad before," he realized aloud.

Chatot stared at him. "Really?" Chatot asked, smirking.

"Don't give me that," Druddigon said, giving Chatot a stern look. "We didn't eat a lot of greens where I was from. That's all."

"Well, salads aren't really that complicated," Jolteon muttered, stepping up between Druddigon and Chatot. He began looking for ingredients on the counter, pulling out some dressings and toppings as he saw them.

"Huh," Druddigon grunted. "You seem to know what you're doing. I'll leave you to it, then."

"Um...okay," Jolteon said. He looked at Chatot. "You want to help out?"

Chatot held up his wings. "Truth be told, I ain't much for cookin' either."

Jolteon nodded. "Fair enough," the Electric-type muttered. He began to concentrate on adding ingredients to his salad.

 **-static-**

"So what's the plan?" Baltoy asked unenthusiastically as Noivern began opening a can of Tamato sauce.

"PASTA!" shouted Noivern, turning to Baltoy. " _That_ is the plan!"

"That's Escavalier-level logic," Baltoy sighed. "Whatever. What do you need me here for?"

"Well, you weren't planning on doing anything else, right?" Castform asked him.

"No," Baltoy said plainly.

"Then why not at least try to do something? Make it look like you're helping, at the very least," Castform suggested. "You know, you're not the most popular guy on the team. It wouldn't hurt you to actually try in the challenges."

Baltoy's expression turned sour. "I know I'm not the most popular," he spat. "I'm not trying to be. I don't have to be everybody's best friend to win. I can do it on my own."

Several heads turned to see what had Baltoy so upset. Castform awkwardly floated in silence, trying to think of a way to ease Baltoy's hostility away. "Well, why don't you, uh…" she drifted off mid-sentence. "Hey Noivern, what can Baltoy do in the way of cooking?"

"I got us all covered," Noivern said, winking at Castform. She was already almost done preparing the pasta dish she was so proud of.

"Oh," Castform said. She turned back to Baltoy. "Tough break, huh?"

"Don't talk to me," Baltoy said coldly.

Azurill bopped Baltoy on the head with her tail. Baltoy let out a surprised yelp. "What was that for?" the clay Pokemon hissed at Azurill, covering his head with both hands.

"Don't be mean to my friends," Azurill said, frowning at Baltoy. "We're trying to help you, you know."

"I don't _want_ your help. I'm still in this game, and I've gotten this far by myself," Baltoy told her. "Why would you think I suddenly want help from you?"

Azurill was quiet for a moment. "You seemed lonely," she said finally.

Baltoy let out a gentle sigh. "Well, I don't need you trying to hold my hand every step of the way," he said to Azurill firmly. "I'll ask for your help if I want it, and you shouldn't expect to hear me asking for it any time soon."

The small Ground-type drifted away from Noivern's gang and hung around near the center of the kitchen by himself. Castform made a face as he floated away.

"Do you really still want to help him?" Castform asked Azurill. "I don't think he likes us."

"We'll make him like us," Azurill said confidently. She turned to Castform with sparkling eyes. "With the power of pasta!"

 **-static-**

" **Azurill's an optimist," Castform said. "She's not giving up on Baltoy as far as I can tell. I mean, Noivern and I have been looking at him as a candidate for elimination for a while now. I don't think we can reasonably keep him out of elimination for much longer, even for Azurill.**

" **I think we're going to have to go behind Azurill's back and vote off Baltoy if we lose this time," Castform said, tilting her head. "I've never done that before. Kinda hoped I wouldn't have to."**

 **-static-**

"Soooo…." Clauncher said, breaking the awkward silence on his team. "We have enough berries for that soup we talked about earlier."

Mienshao shook her head back and forth, looking rather stressed. "Okay, whatever. That's the best idea we've had yet," she muttered. "Go make a soup. We need to figure out what else to make, though–the Milotics are already starting on three different dishes."

"They're making cupcakesss," Seviper said, peering across the room at a tray of frosted cupcakes that Mawile was placing in the oven. "We've already lossst."

"Maybe the hosts don't like cupcakes?" Clauncher said hopefully.

"Who doesn't like cupcakes?" Reuniclus asked, shaking his head.

Clauncher paused. "I….I don't know, man," he said weakly. "I guess we're screwed after all."

"ENOUGH," snarled Mienshao, pounding her fist on the table. Reuniclus and Clauncher snapped to attention instantly. "We're not giving up already, are we? We won the last challenge, for Arceus' sake! I am NOT going on another losing streak after that!"

"Mienshao is right," said Lopunny in a more gentle tone. She stepped forward, trying to take advantage of the energy Mienshao had just given her teammates, but in a more constructive manner. "Let's figure out something else to make and get to it. We have plenty of things to work with here."

"We do have a frying pan," Combusken said hesitantly, stepping up. He held up the black frying pan in his talons. "Maybe we could make them some fried eggs?"

"It could work," agreed Vaporeon groggily. She rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up a bit more so she could help. "I mean, I don't know what else we were going to do anyway."

Clauncher held up an egg carton. Inside were a dozen eggs. "I found some!" he shouted triumphantly. "Combusken, fry 'em!"

Combusken saluted Clauncher. "Yes, sir!" the chicken responded fiercely. He grabbed the egg carton and started cracking open eggs with a passion.

"I'll get to work on the soup," Lopunny volunteered. "Vaporeon, you can help me out. We have enough different kinds of berries here that we can make it work."

"These are mostly spicy berries," Vaporeon said, glancing at the variety of berries set out before them. "Do you think the hosts will enjoy a spicy soup?"

"Well, considering we don't have any pastries lying around, we'll just have to guess what they want," Lopunny said. "Let's get to work!"

 **-static-**

Mawile watched as Dusclops carefully frosted a second batch of cupcakes. His craftsmanship was flawless; each cupcake had the same amount of frosting, and the frosting was perfectly swirled on top. Dusclops scattered some sprinkles on top of each cupcake and smiled.

"I had no idea you liked to cook," Mawile said in awe.

Dusclops grinned. "I may or may not have watched cooking shows before I came to the island. All the time. Every day," he said, waving his hands around as if to make it sound more normal. "I know a thing or two about cooking."

"You never mentioned it before," Cryogonal said. He eyed Dusclops' cupcakes approvingly. "But these are perfect, so I'm not complaining."

"Perfect? Nah, I've made better," said Dusclops, shaking his head. "And I never mentioned it before because it never came up. You don't just walk up to someone and say, 'Hey, I know how to cook really well!' Right?"

"That's debatable, depending on the context," Cryogonal argued. "Suppose you knew they also had an interest in cooking. You could end up sparking a highly intellectual conversation with that person if you brought it up."

"True, true," Dusclops said, nodding. "But what if they challenged me to a cooking contest, and it was discovered that my cooking skills were inferior?"

"That would cue a training montage," Cryogonal replied.

Mawile cleared her throat. "Guys?"

"Oh, right. We should bake those," Cryogonal said, nodding at the cupcakes.

"Yep! Thanks, Mawile!" Dusclops said, placing the new tray of cupcakes into the oven alongside the first one. "We get off track sometimes."

"It would appear so," Mawile said, rolling her eyes.

 **-static-**

"Hm…" Beedrill muttered, watching as Combusken fried some eggs in the frying pan. The eggs were making a satisfying sizzling sound as they sat in the pan. "I'm not sure that what we have is enough."

"I agree," Reuniclus said. "But what else are we supposed to add? Nobody on this team really has any cooking experience."

"I just feel like our dishes lack a...theme," Beedrill said, for lack of a better way to express his thoughts. "Fried eggs and soup? They don't go too well together."

"The hosts would probably award bonus points if we had a theme," Reuniclus concurred. "So what else should we add?"

"We have enough leftover berries that we could make a smoothie," Lilligant suggested quietly. Reuniclus glanced up in surprise, having not even noticed her presence until she had spoken up.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Reuniclus said. "What do you think, Beedrill?"

Reuniclus didn't hear an answer, so he glanced over at Beedrill. The bug Pokemon was directing an intense glare in Lilligant's direction. Lilligant was staring down at the surface of the table, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

"Er...we could make a smoothie work," Reuniclus said quickly. He grabbed Beedrill by the arm and pulled him away from the table. "Come on, Beedrill, let's go make a smoothie."

Beedrill looked at Reuniclus as soon as the two of them were far enough away from Lilligant. "Why do you need me to help make a smoothie?" asked Beedrill. "I've never made one."

Reuniclus sighed. "Dude, this isn't about the smoothie. I need you to chill with the whole Lilligant thing," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Beedrill asked, fixing his eyes on Reuniclus. He didn't seem to get what Reuniclus was trying to say.

"Every time Lilligant's around, you're always glaring at her. Or Mienshao, for that matter," Reuniclus explained. "I get that those two eliminated Tyranitar and Minun, and that sucks. But I don't think Lilligant can deal with you being mad at her. Tyranitar and Minun were her friends, too. She's already trying to deal with the fact that they're gone."

"She's the reason WHY they're gone," hissed Beedrill. "I shouldn't have to explain this to you."

"Well, the fact of the matter is that Lilligant was one of our top players," Reuniclus said. "And ever since Minun left, her performance in challenges has plummeted, not to mention that she seems kind of depressed. I think you should lay off her for a while. She's clearly trying to get over her friends' eliminations...just like you are."

Beedrill was quiet for a moment. "I think you should stay out of this," Beedrill said to Reuniclus after a pause. The look on his face was serious. "I know what she's going through, but she's still at fault for causing the problem in the first place. I don't think I can just forgive her for that on a whim."

"Well, can you at least try not to make things worse? Please?" Reuniclus asked. "We need Lilligant to be able to function again soon. I think the sooner you forgive her for this, the sooner she'll be able to get past it herself."

"Let's focus on the challenge," Beedrill said stiffly. Reuniclus sensed that now was probably a good time to back off, so he went to go get some berries for the smoothie.

 **-static-**

Lilligant stared down at the table for a while longer. She could feel Beedrill occasionally sending her nasty glares from behind, but she didn't dare turn around to look at him. She didn't know if she could bring herself to face him yet.

Sure, Tyranitar and Minun's eliminations weren't entirely her fault, but she also had the power to stop them from leaving. She could have sent Mienshao home instead of Minun if she had chosen to. But she made the call to save Mienshao, and...she wasn't sure she had made the right one.

"Hey, Lilligant!" Mienshao called. Lilligant glanced up wearily and scanned the kitchen for Mienshao. The weasel was standing by the counter, waving to get Lilligant's attention. "Come over here for a second."

Lilligant got up and trudged over to Mienshao's side slowly. "What do you need?" muttered Lilligant.

Mienshao spoke in a hushed voice. "Let's face the facts–we're not going to come up with a better meal than the Milotics. We'll lose to them if things keep going at this rate."

"And?" asked Lilligant, though she already had an idea of where the conversation was headed.

"Sabotage," suggested Mienshao as though it was nothing. "We do something to their food. Make their salad taste horrible, or something like that. We could probably slip something in their pasta dish without them noticing. But we'd have to get close enough."

"Do you want me to do something to their food?" asked Lilligant. She didn't look thrilled by the idea at all.

Mienshao nodded. "Yeah. I get the feeling a lot of the Milotics don't trust me, but you're a people person. You can get this done, if anyone," said Mienshao confidently. She passed a little bottle of some kind of reddish sauce to Lilligant. "Mix that into the pasta. It should make the hosts vomit it right back up."

Lilligant took the bottle, and Mienshao walked away so as not to seem suspicious. Lilligant looked over at Noivern guiltily. The bat was stirring up her pasta, singing some upbeat song to Azurill. Lilligant sighed and walked over towards them, trying to come up with a plan in her head.

"Hey," Lilligant said as she approached Noivern's little cooking group.

"What's up, green girl?" Noivern greeted her enthusiastically.

Lilligant fidgeted uncomfortably. "I, uh, finished helping out my team a little while ago," Lilligant lied. "And I thought your pasta dish looked really good, so I just came over to check it out."

"Ha ha! Yeah, you're right! It's really good!" Noivern bragged. "But I can't tell you the full recipe. It's a secret that only my family knows! And also Azurill and Castform, because they helped me out."

"We're like your second family," said Azurill, smiling.

"So, what, did you want a taste?" asked Noivern, looking a little more serious than before. "'Cause we're saving this for the hosts. Nobody's allowed to eat it beforehand."

"Actually, I figured that I might as well help you out," Lilligant said. "I've made pasta dishes before, and I've found that using a certain kind of sauce will make it taste better."

"Ooh! What kind do you use?" Noivern asked curiously.

"Hold on," Castform said. She looked more suspicious of Lilligant than her comrades. "Why exactly are you helping us when you're on the other team?"

"Aren't we friends?" Lilligant inquired.

Castform looked doubtful. "Well, I don't _not_ like you, but that doesn't mean we're–"

"HECK YEAH! You're like the coolest gal on the other team!" Noivern said. "Show me the sauce, baby!"

Lilligant passed Noivern the bottle of the mysterious red sauce. Noivern uncapped and sniffed the substance. "It has a weird smell," Noivern observed. "Is this one of those things that smells really weird but actually tastes good?"

"Only one way to find out," said Lilligant, forcing herself to smile. Noivern cackled and added a bit of the sauce into her pasta dish. She stirred it up with a wooden spoon and tossed the sauce back to Lilligant.

"I won't tell your team that you helped," Noivern said, winking at Lilligant. "And thanks!"

"Any time," Lilligant replied, walking away as fast as she could. She could hardly believe that she actually pulled that off.

 **-static-**

" **I've already violated Beedrill's trust," Lilligant said, frowning. "Why not go the whole nine yards, huh?" She sighed unhappily.**

 **-static-**

" **I knew she could get it done," Mienshao said, smirking. "I'm glad that it was Minun who chose to betray me rather than Lilligant. Lilligant's talents can be put to much better use here than Minun's–most of the physically intensive challenges are behind us."**

 **-static-**

"Done!" Dusclops said, removing the two trays of cupcakes from the oven. Mawile was tempted to take one just to find out if they actually tasted as good as they looked (which was quite good indeed), but she knew they had to save them for the hosts to judge.

"So now we just wait for the rest of the team to finish, hm?" Cryogonal asked.

"That sounds about right," Mawile confirmed. "I wonder how the other team is faring."

The three allied Milotics glanced over to the other side of the kitchen. Combusken let out a disappointed sigh as he accidentally dropped several eggs onto the floor, causing them to splatter and create a mess. Lopunny was stirring a pot full of soup with Vaporeon, and Reuniclus and Beedrill were dumping all kinds of berries into a blender.

"Not too well, by the looks of things," Cryogonal decided. "That's fortunate."

"All right. All we have to do is make sure nobody eats all of the cupcakes and we're set," joked Dusclops. "Think we overdid it with two trays?"

"There can never be too many cupcakes," Mawile commented.

"You said it," Dusclops said with a grin.

 **-static-**

"Nice! What kind of smoothie is it?" asked Clauncher curiously, staring at the mixed berry smoothie that Reuniclus was now pouring out of the blender.

"It contains some Oran, Bluk, and Magost berries," Reuniclus replied. "I honestly forget everything we put in there, though. I know there were at least three other kinds of berries."

"It doesn't matter what's in there as long as the hosts like it," reasoned Beedrill. He seemed to have calmed down considerably since his talk with Reuniclus.

"Ha ha! Yep, pretty much," Clauncher said with a laugh. "I feel kind of bad that I didn't really get to contribute during this challenge."

"You'll have your chance again next time," Reuniclus said with a shrug. "Nobody's going to hold it against you. It's not like you did anything wrong."

"Yeah, I guess so. I still don't like it, though," said Clauncher. "Whatever. How much longer do we have before the challenge ends?"

"Is everything done over here?" asked Lopunny, walking over to the three guys.

"Yeah," Reuniclus said, holding up two cups filled with a purple-colored smoothie. "We went with a smoothie, like Lilligant suggested."

"Okay, good," Lopunny said, smiling at Reuniclus. "I'm making sure we're all set. I assume Jirachi will be calling off the challenge soon."

"And right you are, Lopunny!" shouted Jirachi, bursting into the kitchen. Diancie trailed behind him. "Finish what you're doing, folks! We're taste testing whatever you've got in five minutes. Oh, and if you get some tables set up out there and decorate them, who knows? You might get some bonus points," Jirachi added.

"Hmph. Points for presentation," Druddigon muttered. "That should be easy enough to do. And it should give us more of an edge over the Gastrodons."

Jirachi and Diancie floated out of the kitchen after the announcement was made. "Okay, everyone! Let's get a table set up for the hosts!" Druddigon commanded. "Let's find a tablecloth and some candles. We should try to make our table atmospheric."

"Got a tablecloth!" Dusclops responded, running forward with a white tablecloth in his hands.

"Good. Let's not waste time; we need to get things set up so we can bring our food out," Druddigon said. "Let's get everyone out there to set up the table."

"Shouldn't we have someone watch the food?" Chandelure pointed out.

"We don't need that. The food is already prepared," Druddigon said.

"The other team could very well try to sabotage us," Chandelure said. "We should leave someone here to guard our food."

Druddigon sighed. "Very well. Baltoy, watch the food," Druddigon ordered. "I know you're not going to do anything else anyway."

"Roger that," Baltoy droned unenthusiastically. He slumped over against the wall in boredom as his teammates left the kitchen.

Jolteon heard his own stomach growl just as he was about to leave. He was initially embarrassed, but looking around, nobody actually seemed to be paying any attention to him.

 **-static-**

" **I, uh...get hungry a lot," Jolteon confessed. "And...I never did get that breakfast today. Or lunch…"**

 **Jolteon's stomach growled. "I hear you, pal," Jolteon said to his stomach. "I gotta get something to eat."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon whirled around and walked over to the counter where the Milotics' food was. The Gastrodons were beginning to leave the kitchen as well to set up their tables. Vaporeon and Seviper had stayed behind to guard their food, but the two of them were busy talking to each other about something.

Jolteon cast a glance over at Baltoy. The clay Pokemon had his eyes closed (as usual) and was slumped against the wall. His head was turned away from Jolteon. The Electric-type nervously reached for the pasta dish.

"Just one bite," Jolteon told himself. He scooped some pasta into his mouth and swallowed it before covering his mouth. It tasted awful. Was Noivern really that bad at cooking?

"Blech," Jolteon groaned. He turned around. Nobody had seen him yet. He reached for a cupcake to cleanse his mouth of the taste of the pasta. He grabbed one of the cupcakes, but he stopped as he felt vomit rising up his throat. He ducked towards the trash can, but didn't make it in time–he ended up puking all over his own salad.

"Oh crap," Jolteon said a bit loudly. Baltoy glanced up to see who was there, but Jolteon had already darted out of the kitchen. Baltoy moved over to the counter, where he was met with a foul stench.

"Oy. What the hell is this?" Baltoy muttered, looking at the ruined salad bowl. Just as he was about to go find his teammates, Druddigon stepped into the kitchen.

Druddigon's snout wrinkled in disgust. "What the hell is that smell?" he muttered. He looked over to see Baltoy standing by the salad bowl. Then he looked at the salad bowl itself and his eyes widened.

"What happened to the salad?" Druddigon rumbled at Baltoy angrily. "You were supposed to guard this! I left you here for TWO MINUTES!"

"I don't know! I was just over there, and–" Baltoy gestured to the wall, but Druddigon cut him off.

"Why weren't you watching the food?" Druddigon roared. Vaporeon and Seviper stared at Druddigon as he yelled at Baltoy. "Do you even know who did this?"

"No," said Baltoy.

"Did _you_ do it, then?" Druddigon asked accusingly. He jabbed a claw into Baltoy's chest. "I haven't seen you do a damn thing for this team the entire time I've been on this island! Are you trying to sabotage us? Is that what you're doing?"

"Why would I sabotage the team?" Baltoy retorted, looking fed up with Druddigon's accusations. "Do you think I'm trying to get eliminated or something? Clearly someone else is sabotaging us! Or me. Maybe someone's trying to get me eliminated."

Druddigon huffed angrily. "Well, now we have one less dish to show the hosts," growled Druddigon. "Are we honestly supposed to win with just a pasta dish and some cupcakes?"

"We don't have a choice," Baltoy spat. "Now quit blaming me and take the food out to the hosts."

Druddigon cast one more furious glare at Baltoy before grabbing the cupcakes and pasta and storming out of the kitchen. Baltoy remained inside, his head spinning–could he have actually been set up? Was someone after him?

Vaporeon and Seviper cast an awkward glance at each other.

 **-static-**

" **And I thought** _ **our**_ **team was bad sometimes," Vaporeon said. "Wow."**

 **-static-**

 **Jolteon puked in the toilet. "Oh crap," he moaned. "I blew it. I totally blew it. I** _ **knew**_ **I shouldn't have eaten any of it. But I couldn't help myself."**

 **Jolteon's stomach growled loudly. "Shut up," Jolteon said to his stomach.**

 **-static-**

"What happened in there?" Chatot asked hurriedly as Druddigon walked out. "I heard shoutin' inside."

"We're down one dish," Druddigon grunted.

"Whaddaya mean?" Chatot asked. "You're not sayin' what I think you're sayin', right?"

"Baltoy failed to guard our food. Turns out somebody thought to puke on our salad," Druddigon growled. "This could be a play from the other team, but I'm suspicious of Baltoy."

Chatot frowned. "Well, that ain't good," the bird squawked. "I hope our table's good enough ta impress the hosts. We're gonna need it if what ya said is true."

The Milotics' table had a couple scented candles at each end and was covered in a white tablecloth. The Gastrodons' table, which was across from the Milotics', had a red tablecloth and had several flowers in vases set on top of it. Lopunny set down some candles on it as finishing touches. Seviper slithered out of the kitchen, followed by Vaporeon and Baltoy.

Jirachi smiled at the campers. "Well, well, we're ready!" he said cheerfully. "Which team wants to go first?"

"We should go first!" Noivern exclaimed. "I want you to try my pasta dish!"

"Wait," Druddigon said sternly. Noivern didn't know about the salad yet. "We should–"

"Aw, come on, man! Why are you always such a killjoy?" Noivern asked Druddigon. "It's a challenge, dude! We gotta go eventually! Why not first?"

Druddigon sighed in defeat. "Fine," he muttered. "Bring out the meals."

"Pasta dish first!" Noivern shouted. Dusclops carried out Noivern's pasta dish and set it in front of Jirachi and Diancie, who sat down at the white table.

"Ah, pasta. That's a good start if I've seen one!" Jirachi stated. "The Milotics are off to a promising start, but can they keep it going?"

"Jirachi, we haven't even tried the pasta yet," Diancie reminded him.

"Psh. All pasta's good pasta," Jirachi said. "Do we really have to?"

Diancie continued staring at him expectantly. "Okay, fine," Jirachi gave in. He stuck a fork in the pasta and shoved some into his mouth. "Hm," he grunted. "Tamato sauce is a good touch, and...UGH."

The host quickly used telekinesis to bring over a trash can, which he promptly vomited into. "What did you put in this?" Jirachi shouted at Noivern. "It tastes like the offspring of a Muk and a Trubbish!"

"How do you know what that–" Diancie began.

"It's an expression!" the host shouted. "Noivern! Explain yourself!"

Noivern looked offended. "What do you mean? That's my family's pasta recipe right there!" she shouted back indignantly. "You're telling me that generations of perfecting pasta have gone to waste?"

"Wait, Noivern," Castform said. "Lilligant added something, remember?"

Noivern's eyes widened, and she looked at Lilligant, horrified. "What?" Noivern asked in disbelief. "Lilligant?"

Lilligant didn't meet Noivern's gaze. "Hey!" Noivern shouted, louder this time. "What did you do to my pasta?"

"What are you talking about?" Cryogonal asked Noivern, turning to her in confusion. "What does Lilligant have to do with the pasta dish?"

Noivern glared at Lilligant before shaking her head. "Nothing," she muttered. "I guess my pasta just sucked."

"Noivern…" Azurill spoke up.

"Forget it," Noivern said. She hung her head and flew out of the cafeteria. Jirachi watched her go, and Diancie scooped out a portion of the pasta to sample for herself.

"Are you really going to eat that?" Jirachi asked Diancie.

"I have to. We're both judging it," she said. She took a bite of the pasta and immediately spat it out. "Yep, you were right. This is awful."

Jirachi tapped his chin. "I give the pasta a two," he decided. "Because I didn't throw up instantly. It took time for the awfulness to really set in."

Diancie shrugged. "Whatever sauce that was was really bad, but I'll give it a three."

The Milotics collectively groaned at their final score of five. Druddigon watched Castform and Azurill sucpiciously; would they have added anything to the pasta that would have ruined its taste? It was doubtful, but neither of them were experienced cooks.

 **-static-**

" **I can't believe Lilligant would sabotage us!" Noivern shouted. "I thought she was cool! But apparently she's just some dirty backstabber. She's just here for the money, like Druddigon and Chandelure. She doesn't care about anyone."**

 **Noivern groaned and put her head in her hands. "How could I have been stupid enough to trust someone from the other team?" she said. She banged her head against the wall in frustration. "Damn it! I can't trust ANYONE!"**

 **-static-**

Jirachi cleared his throat. "Well, after that fiasco, let's have a dish from the Gastrodons!" he said. The hosts floated over to the red table and waited for the Great Gastrodons to present their first dish.

"We'll start you off with some fried eggs," Lopunny said, smiling at the hosts. Jirachi nodded eagerly, his eyes not leaving Lopunny. Diancie punched him in the arm, snapping him back into reality.

"Ow! That hurts, you know," Jirachi muttered, rubbing his arm.

"Good," Diancie muttered back.

Combusken and Beedrill set down two plates of fried eggs in front of the hosts. Diancie looked at her plate curiously.

"Is this just fried eggs, or…?" she prompted.

"Just fried eggs," Combusken replied honestly.

"Fair enough," the co-host said with a shrug. "Can't go wrong with that." She took a bite and chewed for a bit before swallowing. "I give it a six for being simple yet effective. How about, Jirachi?"

"Five," he said after taking a bite. "I'm not really an egg kind of guy, but they weren't bad. Certainly better than the Milotics' first attempt."

Combusken seemed content with how his meal had scored. "Okay, we'll have another Milotic dish next," Jirachi said, switching back over to the other team's table.

"We've only got two dishes total. Perhaps it's best if the Gastrodons go again," Druddigon suggested.

"What about our salad? It looked fine to me when we made it," Chandelure said. "Unless something happened to the cupcakes?"

"Bring it out already! I'm bored!" Jirachi complained.

Druddigon twitched, fighting against his temper. "Are you certain you want all three dishes?" he asked.

"Yeah! Come on, it can't be any worse than the pasta. Seriously," Jirachi said.

Druddigon turned and walked into the kitchen. Moments later, he returned with a bowl of salad, which was still covered in puke.

"Whoa, keep that thing away!" Jirachi protested. "Are you seriously serving us puke in a bowl? Didn't Diancie ask you not to poison us?"

"I asked them not to poison _me,_ to be fair," Diancie corrected him. She turned to Druddigon. "But this is also incredibly disgusting."

Chandelure's face was not very expressive, but even she looked disgusted. "What happened to the salad?" she asked. The other Milotics and even the Gastrodons seemed appalled by the salad bowl.

"Someone sabotaged it. That, or someone got really sick by the salad bowl," Druddigon grunted. "Regardless, Baltoy failed to stop someone from tampering with our food, unless he did it himself."

"I already told you, I had nothing to do with this!" Baltoy scoffed.

"Baltoy wouldn't do that!" Azurill interjected, standing up for him.

Druddigon crossed his arms. "Why not?" he asked. "It's not as if he cares whether we win or lose. He hasn't tried to help us once."

"He helped in dodgeball!" Azurill recalled. "And he tried in hide and seek, too! I think."

Druddigon huffed. "Yeah, whatever. Helping us twice over the course of twelve challenges doesn't cut it," he growled. The angry dragon turned to the hosts. "So what do we do about–"

"Zero," Jirachi said immediately. "I'm not even going to eat that."

"I think we're within our right to refuse eating this one," Diancie agreed. "So we're disqualifying the salad and giving it a zero."

Druddigon grunted angrily and pitched the salad into the nearest trash can. He also stormed out of the cafeteria, fed up with the challenge.

Baltoy looked at Azurill in surprise. "You didn't have to stick up for me," Baltoy told her. "I can defend myself, you know. I'm used to it."

"Well, maybe you should get used to having someone there to stand up for you," Azurill said optimistically. "Because we're friends now."

Baltoy sighed and looked at the floor. "Huh," he said quietly.

 **-static-**

" **Okay, the good thing is that nobody seems to know that I screwed up and made a puke salad," Jolteon said. "The bad news is that they're pinning the blame on someone else: Baltoy."**

 **He stopped to ponder his previous sentence. "That's...not really bad news, I guess," he admitted. "I was going to vote for him next anyway."**

 **-static-**

"Next course from the Gastrodons, please!" Jirachi shouted, switching sides again. Lopunny and Vaporeon carried out a pot of soup and scooped some soup into two bowls for Jirachi and Diancie.

"It's a berry soup, made with a variety of different kinds of spicy berries," Lopunny informed them. She scratched her head. "It's nothing fancy, but we worked with what we had."

Jirachi took a spoonful of soup and ingested it. "Mmm," he hummed pleasantly. "A fantastic taste! Very exquisite! Certainly worthy of a ten!" he said, smiling at Lopunny.

Diancie shook her head and also tried the soup. It was indeed spicy, but not necessarily bad. "It's a pretty middle-of-the-road soup," she told Lopunny honestly. "I'm willing to give you a six, but no higher."

"Great! That gives us the higher score," Lopunny said, smiling at Vaporeon.

"Okay, Milotics, bring out whatever you have left," Jirachi said. "And it had better be good, because you're off to a TERRIBLE start."

"Actually, if you do the math, they need twenty-two points just to tie with us," Reuniclus mentioned. "They can't possibly win."

"Oh, stuff it," Chatot huffed.

"Well, we're going to try their last one anyway. There's no point in wasting food, and I feel as though I need to renew my faith in their chances of amounting to anything in life," Jirachi told Reuniclus. "Bring it out, Milotics!"

Dusclops emerged from the kitchen carrying two trays of cupcakes, one in each hand. He set down the cupcakes before the hosts. Jirachi looked at them hungrily.

"These aren't going to make me puke, right?" Jirachi asked warily. "Because I really just want this to be a good, normal cupcake."

"They won't make you puke," Dusclops said confidently. He paused. "Wait. Maybe. I don't know. They _were_ unattended in the kitchen for several minutes."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and just try to enjoy this cupcake instead," Jirachi said brightly. He stuffed a rainbow sprinkled cupcake into his mouth all at once and his eyes lit up. "TENOUTTATEN!" he shouted, his voice garbled as he chewed the cupcake.

Diancie picked up a cupcake curiously and took a bite. "Mmm," she said, smiling instantly. "This is the best one I've had yet. Have you made these before?"

"I may or may not have made cupcakes before. A bunch of times. For all my friends' birthday parties," Dusclops said, grinning.

Jirachi swallowed his first cupcake and began shoveling even more into his mouth greedily. "Oh, by the way, you get a ten. For sure," he said in between cupcakes.

"I don't give out tens easily, but you're getting one," Diancie agreed, smiling at Dusclops. The ghost cheered loudly and high-fived Mawile.

"There's no point in finishing this," Reuniclus muttered. "Even with a perfect score, we're still beating them by two points."

"Dude. Bring out your last course," Jirachi said. He plopped one more cupcake in his mouth. "Mmm. Dusclops, I will _pay_ you to become the island's cook. Diancie, you're fired."

Diancie shot him a horrified look. "Oh. Well, actually, I was thinking of...you know, winning a million dollars on the show and all?" Dusclops reminded Jirachi. "But thanks for the offer."

Jirachi frowned. "Oh. Diancie, you're hired again."

"Don't you ever do that to me again," Diancie said, staring at Jirachi intensely.

"Jeez, okay. Sorry," muttered Jirachi. Reuniclus and Clauncher finally brought out a couple of smoothies for Jirachi and Diancie. The two hosts sipped the fruity drinks idly for a few seconds.

"Not bad, not bad," Jirachi said. "But they're also not Dusclops' cupcakes, so they only get a seven."

"An eight from me," Diancie said. "Pretty good for smoothies."

"This was pointless," Reuniclus said, reiterating his previous point.

"Well, you know what else is pointless? _You._ You have no points, Jell-O," Jirachi said, pointing at Reuniclus.

"Ha ha. He's right," Clauncher laughed, nudging Reuniclus. The gelatinous camper sighed and floated out of the cafeteria.

"Well, you all know what happens now. Despite Dusclops completely destroying the Gastrodons' entire team with those cupcakes, the points speak for themselves. The Milotics are still eliminating someone tonight," Jirachi said.

"Milotics, we'll see you at the campfire later tonight," Diancie said to them. "Gastrodons, enjoy the rest of your day! You're all safe!"

Some of the Gastrodons cheered. Lopunny and Vaporeon looked excited, while Lilligant felt like garbage after what had just happened. Mienshao wrapped her arm around Lilligant's shoulder and guided the Grass-type out of the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

The rest of the day passed quickly. Jolteon ate a second helping of food at lunch to appease his appetite, and Cryogonal briefly discussed some elimination plans with both Dusclops and Mawile. Night fell soon, and the Milotics found themselves sitting at the campfire pit.

"Hi, everyone! Welcome back! It's your second elimination in a row," Jirachi said. "It's funny how eliminations work with you Milotics. They're always in twos. Zoroark and Boldore, Escavalier and Liepard, now Scrafty and our next victim…"

Cryogonal looked down at the grass after hearing Boldore's name. He tried not to think about her much on the island, but he did miss her. He wondered what would happen once he left the island.

"Go ahead and place your votes," Jirachi told the Milotics. "I'll wait."

 **-static-**

 **Noivern was still in a bad mood. "I wish we could vote somebody off the other team, just for tonight," she said angrily. "Ugh, I'm just so mad. I can't believe Lilligant played me like that."**

 **She sighed. "Whatever. Baltoy. He should go."**

 **-static-**

" **Getting rid of Baltoy is a necessity at this point," Druddigon rumbled. "He's dead weight. Losing him means nothing."**

 **-static-**

" **Lotsa people been tellin' me ta vote fah Baltoy tanight," Chatot chirped. He shrugged. "I dunno. He doesn't strike me as a threat, but I suppose we're just tryin' ta win right now."**

 **-static-**

" **Strategically, Baltoy is the next best move," Cryogonal said indifferently. "It's not personal. I don't feel much either way about him."**

 **-static-**

" **Baltoy's as good as gone," Chandelure said, turning a page in her book. "He's only still here because we always found a reason to eliminate someone else. Not this time."**

 **-static-**

 **Baltoy sat in the confessional, looking hopeless. "I know what's happening," he said. "Damn it. I don't want it all to end like this."**

 **He sighed and sat up straighter. "I suppose I don't really get to choose what happens, though," he muttered. "Not completely, anyway."**

 **-static-**

Azurill stepped toward the confessional to place her vote, but she heard a whisper from the bushes. She glanced over to see Noivern and Castform.

"We're voting for Baltoy," Noivern hissed at Azurill. "Are you in?"

"Wait, Baltoy?" Azurill asked. "Why do we have to vote him off?"

"Someone has to go, Azurill. Baltoy's not contributing. Even you can't deny that," Castform said logically. "I know you're trying really hard to be his friend and all, but look at the bigger picture here."

"I am," she protested. "If Baltoy becomes my friend, he can join our alliance, and–"

"No. We're sending him home, Azurill," Noivern said firmly.

Azurill looked at the ground. "Are you in?" Noivern asked again.

Azurill frowned and stepped into the confessional without a word.

 **-static-**

" **I don't want to get rid of Baltoy. Not after all the progress we've made!" Azurill said frantically. "I think we're friends now? He didn't deny it this time! I can't leave things like this."**

 **She brightened up and giggled suddenly. She wrote something on her vote and held it up to the camera. "I'll just vote for myself," she said, shrugging. "Nobody else is going to vote for me anyway. I don't have to vote for Baltoy this way."**

 **-static-**

The campers all sat around as Jirachi read through the votes from the black box. "Heh heh heh," the host laughed. "Wow, holy crap. You guys must seriously hate a certain someone, because literally _every_ person except one voted for them."

Baltoy sighed. "Get it over with."

"Oh, no no no! I'm not letting you off that easy!" Jirachi cackled. "I've been waiting for this moment for so long! Finally, you're leaving! I want to do the Pokeblocks. This is a moment to be remembered."

"You already said I'm leaving," Baltoy said irritably. "There's no point."

Jirachi ignored him. "Chatot, Chandelure, come up and get your Pokeblocks!" the host called gleefully. "Castform, Dusclops, Mawile!"

Chatot stood up and stared at Baltoy for a moment before walking up and claiming his Pokeblock. Chandelure didn't bother giving Baltoy a glance. Castform looked at Baltoy, not sure how to feel. Dusclops and Mawile took their Pokeblocks without paying him any attention.

"Jolteon, Druddigon, Noivern, and Cryogonal!" Jirachi exclaimed. "Oh boy, final two! Who's it gonna be?"

Azurill and Baltoy sat on their stumps. It was only the two of them who hadn't received Pokeblocks. Azurill was watching Baltoy with a look of sympathy, while Baltoy stared at the ground miserably.

"And the last Pokeblock goes to Azurill!" Jirachi said. Azurill walked up to claim it. She had known Baltoy was going to leave, but she couldn't bring herself to vote for him anyway.

Jirachi floated over to Baltoy excitedly. "Okay, dude! Time to go!" he cackled. "Your time is up! You're a goner!"

"Everyone voted for me, huh?" Baltoy asked with a sigh.

"Well, not everyone, technically. There was one vote for Azurill. But your vote wasn't enough to outweigh ten others against you, dude!" Jirachi giggled gleefully. "Nice try!"

"I didn't vote for Azurill," Baltoy stated flatly.

"What? But there were ten votes for you!" Jirachi said. He scratched his head. "Did somebody tamper with the votes? That doesn't make sense."

"You don't get it? I voted for myself," Baltoy spat. He reached underneath his stump and tossed a little bronze idol at Jirachi. "And it doesn't matter that I have that, right? Because everyone voted me out."

"What?" Jirachi shouted, zipping over and picking up the idol. "Dude! This is the actual idol! How did you get this?"

"I opened the chest," Baltoy muttered. "But I'm done."

Jirachi stared at the idol in shock. The other Milotics were also stunned at the idol's real owner. "No, you're not," Jirachi said, rubbing his head. "The idol saves its owner from elimination and sends the Pokemon with next most votes home."

"Everyone voted for me! _I_ voted for me!" Baltoy said, throwing his arms up. "It doesn't matter anymore! The idol is wasted."

"There was one vote for Azurill," Jirachi reminded him.

"Who would vote for Azurill?" Baltoy scoffed. "That's ridiculous. It's probably a joke vote."

"I did."

The campers turned to see Azurill step forward. "You had the idol all along, Baltoy?" Azurill asked.

Baltoy stared at her in shock. "You voted for yourself?" he asked.

"So did you, apparently," Azurill said, laughing awkwardly. "I didn't think anything of it. I just didn't want to send you home."

Baltoy stared at her for a few moments, not knowing what to say. He glanced at the idol in Jirachi's hands. "So the idol affects her?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, it does," Jirachi said. "And I was looking forward to watching you go home, too. Drat."

Baltoy shook his head. "Give me that," Baltoy said, snatching the idol from Jirachi's hands. "I don't want to use it, then."

Azurill hurried over to Baltoy. "No, stop! Don't do that!" Azurill said to Baltoy. "If you do that, you go home!"

Baltoy sighed. "I'm not exactly having a blast here. I only came for the money. And I don't want to take your chance to win the money, either. You deserve it more than I do."

Azurill shook her head. "I don't need the money," she told him. "I had a lot of fun here already! I met Noivern and Castform, and I even became friends with you! I got all that I hoped for and more. I never thought I would win that money from the start."

Baltoy didn't say anything. "I think you need the money more than I do right now," Azurill said. "So you can find something that makes you happy. I've already made friends here, and I'll stay in touch with them even off the island. So I want you to find something to take from the island, too!"

Azurill gently removed the idol from Baltoy's hands and passed it to Jirachi. "Goodbye, everyone!" Azurill said to her teammates, smiling at them. "Thanks for being awesome teammates! Noivern and Castform, I'm sorry for leaving, but only one of us can win anyway! So it's probably best if I do this now!"

Noivern and Castform rushed over to Azurill. "Come on, Azurill, don't do this!" Noivern pleaded. "I've already had a terrible day! Don't make it any worse by leaving!"

"You don't have to leave! Baltoy might not use the idol!" Castform said hopefully.

Baltoy turned to Azurill. "Is this actually okay with you?" he asked. "I don't have to use this. If you want to stay, you should."

"Of course I want to stay! But I want you to stay, too. I'd feel bad if I deprived anyone of their chance to stay," Azurill said. "So seriously, it's fine. I'm gonna pack my stuff."

Azurill walked back towards her cabin, leaving the rest of the Milotics to stare in shock. Jirachi twiddled his thumbs. "So…" the host said, frowning, "Baltoy stays another night. That is most disappointing."

"Shove it," Baltoy snarled at Jirachi. "I'm not doing it for me."

Jirachi shrugged and leaned against his podium. "You're all welcome to say your goodbyes to Azurill after she does her last confessional," he reminded the team. "And that's that."

 **-static-**

" **I honestly had no intention of going home this early. I didn't think it would happen at all," Azurill said. "But I'm okay with it. It's not like I needed the money. I can fund a rescue team on my own. Besides, I haven't even gone through guild training yet, ha ha."**

 **She smiled at the camera. "I think Baltoy's all right," she said. "He's rough around the edges, but that's because he thinks no one cares. All I had to do was be there for him, and he actually seemed to accept me as a friend. So I hope the team realizes that."**

 **Azurill perked up energetically. "So I'm definitely rooting for Noivern and Castform, too! They're, like, my original pals! So I hope they go all the way!" she cheered. "And if there's room for Baltoy in the final three, I hope he makes it! And...well, I'll just root for my whole team while I'm at it."**

 **She laughed for a bit. "See ya!" she shouted.**

 **-static-**

Azurill's entire team showed up to see her off, as did a good number of Milotics. Lopunny, Vaporeon, Clauncher, Combusken, Reuniclus, Beedrill, and Seviper were all there too.

Azurill waved at them all from the back of her Lapras with her tail. "Bye!" she shouted. "Thanks for competing with me and stuff! I'll see you all later! Hopefully! Probably! Right?" she shouted at Jirachi.

"It's classified!" he shouted back.

"Okay, cool!" she shouted. "BYE EVERYONE!"

Noivern waved frantically at Azurill as her Lapras drifted away. She had to do twice the waving since Castform couldn't wave. Because Castform still did not have limbs.

Baltoy watched her go. He expected to feel relieved that he managed to stay another night. But he felt completely, utterly empty instead.

* * *

Well, that was a big one. Azurill was a pretty unpredictable competitor, and she's actually quite formidable, but she doesn't show it often because she prefers to simply have fun most of the time.

Still, Azurill was a pretty well-liked contestant. It's tough to finally say goodbye to her character, but Azurill made the decision to drop out in order for her friends, which is a pretty noble way to go.

Enough about Azurill for now, though; the idol's owner was finally revealed to be Baltoy! Most people had either predicted that Scrafty or Baltoy had the idol, so once Scrafty was eliminated, there was no need to draw out the idol plotline any longer.

Tensions are rising everywhere! Lilligant has become the emotional punching bag of the story. Poor girl. At least Mienshao seems to be looking after her a bit more carefully.

Noivern took a spotlight this chapter for probably the first time in a while. She has a potential alliance agreement in the works with Chatot, and she's shown some wicked pasta making skills! Truly, she is a force to be reckoned with.

And Jolteon was actually the one to screw up the challenge, but he escaped unscathed! He's a tricky one to catch. And he's also quite the big eater, evidently.

That's really all that I want to say right now. If you have any questions, submit them via review or just PM me. Anything's fine, I just haven't gotten a lot of feedback lately and that's really hurting my motivation.

Azurill: See you next time! Don't forget to review! All the cool people are doing it!


	15. Leftover Party

Hi! I'm really cutting it close with these monthly updates. It's almost the end of May. I barely made it, but I still did it! Don't kill me.

And a quick shoutout to my readers, because we've breached three thousand views by this point! Wow. I didn't expect that to happen, or at least not as quickly as it did.

I suppose that's ironic coming from me, since it's taken over a year to get here. Still, thank you very much. I don't know if I say it a lot but I really appreciate anyone who has shown support for this story.

I think this chapter turned out all right, and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Noivern and Castform sat outside in the center of camp. The two of them had bypassed breakfast for the time being to simply converse while the camp was still mostly empty. Few other campers were awake at this hour in the morning.

Noivern exhaled loudly, and Castform watched her sympathetically. Noivern hadn't been herself since Azurill had been eliminated, and Castform knew there probably wasn't much she could do to console her friend. Still, Castform didn't like seeing the perpetually energetic bat in such a subdued mood.

"Are you okay, Noivern?" Castform asked, her tone conveying moderate concern.

"I don't know. Probably not," groaned Noivern, letting her head hang. "It's just...this sucks, you know? I never really cared about who got eliminated until it was actually someone I cared about. I guess I should have been prepared for this, but it would have sucked just as much anyway if I had been."

"Well, Azurill made the choice to leave," Castform pointed out. "So I'm fairly convinced she went out on good terms. I don't think she'd like seeing you like this, though."

"I know, but I'm just...ugh," Noivern said, staring at the ground with an intense expression. "And then there's the whole Lilligant incident to top it all off. I can't believe she'd pull that. Since when did she start playing dirty?"

"I haven't kept an eye on her, honestly," admitted Castform. "I never thought she'd be a threat. I guess I have to rethink everything now," she chuckled.

Castform glanced at her friend, but Noivern had no reaction, not even a simple smile. "Look, let's just focus on what's left of the competition, not what's already happened," Castform suggested. "Maybe that will be easier for you."

Noivern shrugged. "I guess. I dunno. I'm still mad about this whole thing, and nothing anybody says is going to change that. I just need some time for all this to get settled in my head," Noivern said. She blinked suddenly. "Oh yeah. We're allied with Chatot and Jolteon now, by the way."

Castform stared at Noivern blankly. "We're what?" she asked hesitantly.

"I asked Chatot and Jolteon if they wanted an alliance back before the last challenge," Noivern recalled. "And Chatot came up to me last night and told me he accepted. So I guess that's cool."

Castform shook her head. "Okay, but why didn't you _tell_ me about this?" she asked.

Noivern looked to the side guiltily. "Well, the idea I had in my head was just to work with them for...you know, votes and stuff. So we could control the votes and send home whoever we wanted," she explained. Her eyes slowly traveled to the ground again. "Evidently that didn't work out last time."

"I don't think making any more allies right now is a good idea," Castform confessed. "Plus, why would Chatot accept that offer? Have you ever considered that maybe _he's_ trying to control _our_ votes?"

"I don't know!" Noivern said frantically. "I just want to win, okay? I thought it was a good idea at the time!"

Castform decided to take things down a notch. "Okay. Well, what's done is done. We'll work with them for now, at least up until the merge. That should give us an excuse to break off the alliance if we want," she said. "But please don't try anything like this again. Or if you do, at least consult me first."

Noivern rolled her eyes. "I'm not about to let you boss me around, ghost girl," Noivern snickered playfully.

Castform was about to give a witty retort, but seeing how Noivern's cheerful state seemed to have returned, she decided against it. "Let's get to the cafeteria," Castform suggested. "I'm really hungry now."

"Me too," agreed Noivern in consensus, hopping up after Castform and following her towards the building to the west.

 **-static-**

" **I swear, Noivern just acts without thinking," Castform sighed. "This alliance with Chatot and Jolteon sounds like a bad idea. I've nothing against the guys, but I don't see why they would want to work with us now unless they're playing at some long-term plan of their own."**

 **-static-**

"So, whaddaya think of the alliance with Noivern?" Chatot muttered to Jolteon.

The two Milotics were alone in the male Milotics' cabin at the moment. Druddigon, Cryogonal, and Dusclops had all gone out to eat, and Baltoy's whereabouts were currently unknown. Jolteon was hastily scribbling in his notebook on his bed while Chatot stared out the window and watched clouds float through the sky.

"What do I think of it?" Jolteon repeated, glancing up. He quickly returned his eyes to the pages of his journal, scanning it feverishly for interesting tidbits. There was a momentary pause before Jolteon answered. "It's good, it's good. I think she's a strong player even if she doesn't act like it sometimes."

"There's no doubt about that. I've seen her fight before, and she ain't a pushovah," Chatot told Jolteon. "I just ain't sure why she'd come ta us outta the blue like that."

"It's almost merge time," Jolteon pointed out. "She probably just wants to make it to the merge. And keep her remaining alliance members in, especially after Azurill left."

"That seems fair enough," Chatot mumbled. "But we can't be sure of her reasonin'. Let's just be cautious, all right? We can make this advantageous for the two of us if we play our cahds right."

"Mhm," Jolteon muttered quietly. Chatot could tell that his friend probably wasn't paying much attention, simply based on his tone. "Yeah, we'll be fine."

Chatot stared out the window for a while longer. This game was much more complicated than he had bargained for. But he'd made it this far, and he had no intention of giving up anytime soon.

The bird stretched his wings and sauntered over to the door. "I'm off ta the cafeteria," he told Jolteon. "Come find me if ya want ta talk some more."

"Sure thing," Jolteon replied, giving Chatot a small wave as he stepped outside. The Electric-type's eyes quickly darted back to his journal. On one page, the name Baltoy was circled. Jolteon scratched his head, perplexed.

 **-static-**

" **I found out last night that Baltoy was the owner of the idol. But that still doesn't explain** _ **how**_ **he became the owner," Jolteon muttered. "I don't get it. Of all the Pokemon on the island, how would he get the idol?"**

 **-static-**

Mawile set down a tray across from Cryogonal and Dusclops, who were both already eating in the cafeteria. Dusclops gave her a friendly wave as she joined them before resuming his conversation with Cryogonal.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Mawile curiously as she sat down at the table.

Dusclops' single red eye focused on her eerily. "The idol. We still can't come up with any plausible theories about how Baltoy got his hands on it," the ghost said.

"It could be that he found the key fair and square," Cryogonal proposed. "It's not out of the question."

"Yeah, but do you honestly think he'd play fair?" Dusclops asked, shaking his head. "No, I bet he unlocked the chest with his psychic powers somehow."

"If that's the case, then couldn't Reuniclus have just taken it?" Cryogonal pointed out.

"But what if Baltoy got to it first?" Dusclops theorized.

"Hm! An excellent point," Cryogonal conceded. "Then perhaps it was simply a matter of first come first serve and not an acquirement by any means of complex, convoluted notions of trickery?"

"Quite possibly," Dusclops remarked. "But if that were not the case, reason leads me to believe that Baltoy could have simply struck up a deal with the hosts to get his hands on the idol before anyone else!"

"Do you honestly believe Baltoy could strike a deal with Jirachi?" Cryogonal countered. "Jirachi plays favorites, and Baltoy is clearly on the opposite side of the spectrum from being a favorite!"

"That's certainly a valid argument!" Dusclops agreed enthusiastically. "But have you considered that Baltoy made a deal with Diancie instead?"

"That would certainly change perspective on the matter," Cryogonal mused. "If Baltoy were to somehow bribe Diancie into an exchange deal for the immunity idol…"

Mawile watched the two of them continue forming outlandish theories about how the idol fell into Baltoy's possession, not expressing any interest in joining the conversation. She was still bothered about the fact that Scrafty had acquired a fake idol, yet Baltoy's was valid; was it Baltoy who crafted the decoy?

 **-static-**

" **I must admit that I'm impressed with how long Baltoy has managed to stay in the game," Cryogonal admitted. "The odds have been stacked against him for some time now, and he's had a lot of close calls. He should have been eliminated several times over now, yet he's still here. It astounds me how he's managed to slip away unscathed every time.**

" **But now, the idol is taken out of the equation. He's as vulnerable as the rest of us. And I don't think luck will favor him for any longer," Cryogonal said logically. "He's played a smart game, but his methods have made more than a few enemies for him. It would take another miracle for him to survive in this game for any lengthy period of time."**

 **-static-**

"It seems highly unlikely that Baltoy would have created some type of alliance with the interns to obtain the idol," Cryogonal rambled. "Furthermore, it also seems unlikely that the interns would know the whereabouts of the idol to begin with."

"Fair enough," Dusclops agreed. "What do you think, Mawile?"

Mawile heard her name and blinked in surprise. "Um…?"

Dusclops snickered. "Heh heh. I think we lost her somewhere, Cryogonal," he said, nudging Cryogonal with one hand.

"I can hardly blame her," Cryogonal said, a smirk on his face. His face grew more serious as Druddigon cast a glance in his direction from the other end of the table. "On a more serious note, we should stop meeting like this publicly. I think the others are starting to catch on."

Mawile turned her head and met Druddigon's eyes for a moment. The gargoyle Pokemon grunted quietly and turned away, scooping some cereal into his mouth with a spoon. "I think you're right," Mawile muttered. "Maybe we should meet somewhere else."

Dusclops stood up from the table, gathering his tray in two hands. "How about by the lake?" he suggested in a whisper. "It's not very crowded there." The other two nodded, and Dusclops walked away from the table. Druddigon followed the ghost with his eyes before his gaze flickered back to Mawile and Cryogonal for a second.

 **-static-**

" **Another alliance may have possibly sprung up in our midst and gone unnoticed until now," Druddigon declared. "But I have no intention of letting another alliance gain power on this team. I've crushed most opposition up until now, and I don't plan to stop here."**

 **-static-**

At the lake, Lopunny had decided to swim a few laps with Vaporeon. Normally, she didn't join Vaporeon on during her morning swim, but Lopunny decided that this might be a good way to fit some exercise into her routine.

"So," Vaporeon began, climbing out of the lake and drying herself off with a towel that she had brought with her, "who do you think's next on the chopping block?"

"Where is this coming from?" asked Lopunny, swimming over to the shore and standing up in the shallow water. "Are you worried that we're going to lose again soon?"

"Not really. We've been holding our own surprisingly well lately," Vaporeon said. "All things considered, I don't think we're doing half bad. But I'm curious who's leaving next, regardless of which team they're on."

"We won't know until the next challenge is over," Lopunny stated. "Last time, the Milotics eliminated Azurill. I'm not sure why, but I heard it had something to do with Baltoy."

"Supposedly he had the idol," Vaporeon told her. Lopunny stared at Vaporeon in shock. "Yeah, I know. I'm not making that up."

"Well, that solves one of the biggest mysteries on the island," Lopunny said, walking out of the water and picking up her own towel. "It also opens up so many questions, though. How did he get it?"

"I don't know. I don't really care," Vaporeon admitted. "If the idol is gone, it doesn't really matter who had it or how they got it."

Lopunny pondered that thought for a moment. "I suppose you're right," she agreed.

Vaporeon giggled. "Of course I am!" she teased jokingly. "When have I ever been wrong?"

Lopunny watched as Vaporeon smiled at her for a while longer. She felt a strange happiness, getting to spend so much time with Vaporeon. The two of them had become closer than she had hoped for.

"Well, I should really be getting back to camp. I probably stayed out here too long," Vaporeon called to Lopunny.

"Where are you going?" asked Lopunny in confusion. "Didn't you come out here for a swim?"

"Yeah, but Jolteon and I were going to watch a movie today," Vaporeon said. She jerked her head towards camp. "We were supposed to meet up in the rec room soon."

"Oh," Lopunny muttered awkwardly. She fidgeted uncomfortably in place. "Well, have fun then."

"Yeah. See you later, I guess," Vaporeon said, flashing one last smile at Lopunny before dashing away in the direction of camp. Lopunny let out a soft sigh.

 **-static-**

Combusken walked past his cabin and headed towards the woods for a walk. Lately, he had found that taking a stroll through the forest each morning was a good way to clear his mind of any distractions and relieve some stress that built up during each challenge. He hummed a cheerful tune to himself as he stepped into the woods.

Combusken hadn't made it very far when something out of the ordinary caught his eye. Lilligant was sitting in a clearing near the edge of the woods by herself, curled up at the base of a tree. Combusken glanced left and right warily before looking at Lilligant more carefully. It appeared that she was actually alone, so he approached her cautiously.

"Uh...hey, Lilligant," Combusken began weakly. She glanced up in surprise, her eyes narrowed. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm just sitting out here," she told him, turning her head away. "What do you want?"

Combusken was taken aback by her tone of voice. It was much colder than the Lilligant he was used to hearing, and he was hesitant to continue the conversation, but went on anyway. "I was just out for a walk," he explained. "I, uh, wasn't expecting to see you out here."

"I don't come here often anymore," she replied. An uncomfortable silence passed between the two Gastrodons for several seconds. Combusken entered the clearing and sat down at the base of a nearby tree.

"Why are you out here by yourself?" Combusken asked her gently, shifting into a comfortable position.

Lilligant was silent for a while. "Why can't I be?" she muttered finally. There was no hostility this time, but she sounded defeated.

"It's different around camp when you're not there," Combusken said.

Lilligant sighed. "Look, I don't want to go back to camp," she told Combusken. "And I don't think anyone there wants to see me."

"I do," Combusken said optimistically. "You've got friends that haven't talked to you in a while."

"Like who?" Lilligant asked miserably.

Combusken was quick to respond. "Lopunny. Vaporeon. Probably Mienshao," he said, naming off whoever came to mind. He gave Lilligant a weak smile. "I could be your friend if you need one."

Lilligant stared at him. "I can't…" she trailed off with a sigh. "Tyranitar and Minun's eliminations were largely my fault. The team has a right to be mad at me."

"What are you talking about?" Combusken asked. "Wasn't Mienshao the one who wanted to eliminate them?"

"I'm working with her!" said Lilligant, throwing her arms up in frustration. "Don't you get it? I'm still just as responsible for this as she is!"

Combusken began to regret initiating a conversation with her. "W-well, for the record, I don't think you're to blame if you were just listening to Mienshao," he muttered. "It sounded like she was bossing you around before."

Lilligant was quiet. "You don't blame me for getting them eliminated?" she asked.

Combusken shook his head. "No. And I don't think most of our teammates do, either." He scratched his head. "Well, maybe Beedrill does. But I think he's just mad over the fact that Tyranitar and Minun are gone. I don't think he's really mad at _you._ "

Some silent seconds passed between the two again. Lilligant turned to Combusken and forced herself to smile. "Thank you, Combusken. But I don't know if I'm ready to face everyone yet," she confessed.

"Well, uh, I'm always here," Combusken offered. "If you need to talk."

The chicken Pokemon stood up awkwardly and staggered out of the clearing. Lilligant watched him leave, uncertain of how to feel.

Maybe he was right. She didn't know if her teammates still blamed her for past eliminations or if she was just dwelling too much on them out of guilt. And regardless of that fact, she realized that she wouldn't get anywhere unless she at least attempted to make amends.

Lilligant slowly pushed herself into a standing position and brushed some dirt off of her leafy dress. She finally knew what she had to do.

 **-static-**

" **I'm tired of feeling like Tyranitar and Minun were both eliminated because of me," Lilligant declared. "Mienshao was the only one who wanted them gone to begin with. I've followed her orders for this long, yet it's gotten me nowhere."**

 **Lilligant let out a deep breath. "I'm leaving Mienshao's alliance. That's the only way out of this situation. Minun left the alliance for a reason, and I think I'm beginning to see why."**

 **-static-**

Baltoy spun around halfheartedly at the top of the cliff. Azurill's elimination had left him confused. He wasn't sure why she would opt to eliminate herself for him, especially after he had refused to be her friend. Nonetheless, he was grateful, yet still concerned about his own standing in the game.

Baltoy peered over the cliff's edge. The altitude at which he stood was rather intimidating, but it was also calming in a way to be so far from everyone else. Baltoy flopped backwards onto the rocky surface of the cliff, his mind spinning. No matter which way he looked at his current situation, his chances of avoiding elimination were slim at best.

"Ugh," Baltoy groaned. "Why didn't I just go and get eliminated last time? I could have just _not_ used the idol. Now that I don't have it anymore, I'm basically screwed anyways."

He listened to the wind whipping around loudly for a while. "Okay, this is annoying," he muttered at last. "I'm heading back to camp."

The little clay Pokemon grumpily twirled his way back towards the main camp area alone, grumbling quietly to himself as he went. Just as he arrived, a familiar, annoyingly cheerful voice rang out from the camp's intercom system.

"AAAAAATTENTION, CAMPERS! IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE!" Jirachi shouted obnoxiously. "WE'LL BEGIN IN EXACTLY ONE HOUR! SO DON'T BE LATE, OR ELSE...WE'LL DO SOMETHING."

The host turned off the intercom after he finished speaking, and Baltoy groaned. Great, another challenge. Just what he needed.

 **-static-**

The campers weren't really sure where to gather, since Jirachi had neglected to say where they should be in an hour, so eventually all nineteen of them had gathered in a large mob in the middle of camp.

Jirachi quickly teleported to the center of camp. "Well, this isn't quite what I had in mind," the host mumbled. "But it will do. Follow me to the cafeteria!"

Lopunny and Seviper exchanged a glance and followed the host. The rest of the campers slowly made their way through the doors of the cafeteria until the inside of the building was visible.

Clauncher let out an excited gasp as the campers laid their eyes on the food-covered tables. Diancie was scurrying about the cafeteria, laying out various dishes for the campers as Jirachi took a place near the center of the room to address the campers.

"As I'm sure you can all see, we've got a feast's worth of food left over from the last challenge," Jirachi explained. "So I've taken the liberty of making today's challenge food themed as well!"

 **-static-**

 **Mienshao pointed at a tiny square in her challenge calendar. "Scuba diving. Today's challenge was supposed to be** _ **scuba diving,**_ **not some eating contest."**

 **The weasel threw the challenge calendar at the wall angrily and crossed her arms. "Useless thing," she muttered crossly. She sat in the confessional in uncomfortable silence for another few seconds before picking up the calendar and leaving abruptly.**

 **-static-**

"It's an eating contest!" Jirachi said, twirling around in excitement. "Isn't that nice? Doesn't that sound fun after the disastrous cooking you did last time?"

"I hope you're being sssarcastic," Seviper said. Jirachi rolled his eyes.

"I thought my cooking wasn't that bad," Dusclops muttered self-consciously. Mawile gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder.

Diancie wiped her brow as she set the last of the dishes on the tables, which were lined up against the wall to save space for the two smaller tables that were now taking up the middle of the cafeteria. The tables in the middle had just enough seats for each team.

"It's just an eating contest? With no twist?" asked Castform suspiciously.

Jirachi's eyes lit up. "I'm so glad you asked, Castform! You see–"

"I take it back," Castform groaned.

Jirachi cackled lightheartedly. "I'm just joking around. Jeez, have I really messed around with you guys that much?" he snickered.

Reuniclus stared at the host awkwardly. "...Yes," he said after a pause.

Jirachi clapped his hands together. "Well, back to business! The goal of today's challenge is to eat as much as you can! Eat, eat, eat! It's the world's best leftover party, where the food never runs out!"

Mawile glanced beyond Jirachi at the tables against the wall. "You know there are only two tables' worth of food, right?" she pointed out.

"Yes. Shut up. I just want to get rid of it," Jirachi snapped. "It takes up too much room in the kitchen, according to Diancie."

"It does," Diancie agreed, nodding her head.

"How exactly is an eating contest supposed to work as a competitive team-based challenge?" Cryogonal pressed.

"Well, you're out as soon as you can't eat anymore, correct? So we'll do it in a last man standing sort of way," Jirachi explained in greater detail. "The team with any remaining Pokemon at the end of the challenge wins."

"Thus, the team to lose all of its members to a full stomach first loses," Diancie finished. "If you vomit any of your food, you are also disqualified from the challenge, as it would hardly be fair to allow you to continue."

"That seems straightforward enough," Druddigon said contently. "Where do we begin?"

"By sitting down," Jirachi said, using his psychic powers to simultaneously pull back all the seats in the room. "That was really satisfying, actually. I should do that more often."

The campers all took a seat at their respective tables, with the Milotics sitting at the table of ten and the Gastrodons at the table with one less seat.

 **-static-**

" **Finally, a challenge I can do well!" Jolteon said excitedly. "I've entered my fair share of eating contests before! Granted, I always lost to my buddy Snorlax, but he's in a league of his own."**

 **Jolteon smirked at the camera confidently. "I've got this," he reassured himself.**

 **-static-**

" **Eating contest. Great," Chandelure said with a sigh. "I'm not exactly suited to stuffing my face with food. The sooner we get back to intellectual challenges, the better."**

 **-static-**

Diancie lifted the cover off of the first platter, revealing a tray of brightly colored Poffins. They looked and smelled fresh, and Jolteon salivated at the very sight of them.

"These are leftovers?" asked Baltoy quizzically. "I don't recall anyone making Poffins for the cooking challenge."

"Well, I used leftover ingredients in them," Diancie explained. "Now, here's how this will work. Each Pokemon on both teams will receive a plate of Poffins. If you can't finish the Poffins, or you throw up, you are disqualified from the challenge and do not move on to the next round."

Plates were passed around both tables, each plate containing fifteen Poffins. The Poffins were heaped high on the plates, causing Castform to stare at hers in shock for a few seconds before looking to the hosts.

"Fifteen of them?" she asked doubtfully. "I, uh...don't know that I can eat that much. Not after I just had breakfast."

"That's what we were hoping for," said Jirachi, grinning. "The sooner you drop out, the sooner Diancie and I can kick back and relax again. So go ahead, drop out. No pressure."

Castform's teammates looked at her expectantly. "Fine," she grumbled. "Let's get this started already."

"And...GO!" shouted Jirachi. The campers immediately dug into their food. Jolteon shoved Poffins into his mouth in rapid succession, barely even bothering to chew them. Chatot watched his friend in amazement.

 **-static-**

" **And here I thought nobody coulda possibly eaten fastah than Swinub," Chatot remarked, rubbing his head with one wing. "Well, color me impressed."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon was the first to finish the first course. He let out a contented sigh as he finished eating and pushed his plate forward. "Done," said the Electric-type.

"And Jolteon from the Milotics has finished!" Jirachi announced. "That means at least one Pokemon from their team will move on to the second course. Can the Gastrodons compete with that?"

"All right, team, we can't lose to them now! We're on a winning streak-if we win this challenge, we'll finally be tied with the Milotics again!" Lopunny encouraged her teammates. "So let's do this!"

Reuniclus smirked and looked down at his plate with renewed energy. He began pushing Poffins into his mouth, trying to get down as many as possible.

Combusken was on his third Poffin before he began coughing uncontrollably. Clauncher glanced over at him, worried, and saw that Combusken's face was beginning to turn blue.

"Hang on, buddy! I got you!" Clauncher shouted, running over and attempting to perform a Heimlich maneuver on the choking Combusken. The hosts just sat by and watched as Clauncher unlodged a Poffin from Combusken's throat and launched it onto the floor.

"Cleanup in aisle three!" Jirachi called.

"Jirachi, there is no aisle three," Diancie explained.

Jirachi groaned. "Just go clean it up, Diancie."

"Okay."

"All right, Combusken. Sit over there," Jirachi said, pointing to a table further back from the Milotics'. There were a number of empty seats there, and no food was on the tabletop.

"W-wait. Am I disqualified for choking?" Combusken quavered.

"Well, you technically just spat out your food," Jirachi said, shrugging. "Which is kind of the exact opposite of what you're supposed to do. So yeah, I'm disqualifying you."

"That's stupid. He didn't throw up, he just choked on it," Baltoy argued, despite the fact that Combusken was on the opposing team. Perhaps he was just looking for an excuse to get under Jirachi's skin.

"And you," said Jirachi, positioning his chair to face Baltoy. "You're disqualified for, um...insubordination."

"What?" Baltoy said flatly.

"Sorry, but what can I say? That's a valid reason for elimination. You're lucky I let you off with disqualification," Jirachi said, shaking his head at Baltoy.

"He's not allowed to do that. You can keep eating," Diancie told Baltoy as she swept up the remains of the fallen Poffin. Baltoy relaxed in his seat a bit more and looked at the Poffins distastefully.

Chandelure had not yet touched her Poffins either. Dusclops glanced over at her from across the table. "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with your food?" he asked.

"No. But I don't eat," she responded.

"You...don't eat?" he repeated in confusion.

Chandelure stared at him impatiently. "Yes. I don't consume food. My body has no requirement for the intake of any form of sustenance," she explained. "I also lack a mouth, which I mistakenly assumed was already apparent to everyone."

"Well, I don't have a mouth either, but that's not stopping me," he said, shoving a Poffin into his face. It seemed to phase into his body, disappearing on contact. "So you'll have to find a new excuse!"

"Are you serious? Ya can't eat anything?" Chatot asked Chandelure.

Chandelure fixed her emotionless eyes on him for a moment. "That's correct."

"So you actually can't eat anything without a mouth?" Dusclops asked, placing another Poffin into his body, where it magically disappeared.

"Unlike most ghosts, my body takes a physical form," Chandelure pointed out. "Since your body is incorporeal, you can just place food inside of it."

"Hm," said Dusclops, stroking the place on his face where a chin would normally be. "Well, since you don't have a mouth, there's not really anything you can do, then."

"Come now, Dusclops," Cryogonal said from beside his friend. "You know it's not nice to make fun of the dentally challenged."

The room was silent for a moment before Dusclops burst out laughing. He patted Cryogonal on the back a couple of times. "I have taught you well," said Dusclops between chuckles. Cryogonal was trying to hide a smirk, pleased at his own joke.

Chandelure's eye twitched.

 **-static-**

" **I might not like the alliance I have with Druddigon right now, but at least I didn't ally myself with those two buffoons," Chandelure scoffed. "That would have been a colossal mistake."**

 **-static-**

" **Chandelure might hate me now," Cryogonal chuckled, "but it was worth it."**

 **-static-**

"If you can't participate in the challenge, Chandelure, you'll have to drop out," Jirachi stated. Chandelure didn't seem fazed by this at all, and she left the table to join Combusken at the losers' table. He glanced at her uncomfortably before scooting over to give her extra room.

"I'm dropping out, too," said Baltoy. "I can't eat this."

Diancie looked offended. "Oh, come on. There's nothing wrong with those Poffins," she protested.

"I don't have a mouth," he sighed.

Diancie blinked at him. "Ah, that's right," she muttered. "Very well, then."

 **-static-**

" **Honestly, it's like talking to a wall sometimes," Baltoy said, shaking his head. "And half the time it's a wall that really wants you eliminated from its show."**

 **-static-**

Noivern brushed some crumbs off of her face with a wing before triumphantly holding up her empty plate. "Done!" she shouted. Jirachi flashed her a thumbs-up and she grinned.

"That's two Milotics moving on to round two," Jirachi said. "But the Gastrodons have no contenders yet. Can they still pull this off?"

Mienshao scarfed down the last of her Poffins, making an unpleasant face as she did so. She stood up and faced the hosts. "Done," she said, a bit weakly.

"Are you okay?" asked Vaporeon as Mienshao sat back down.

"Yes. I just really don't like sour Poffins," Mienshao told Vaporeon. Vaporeon glanced at her own plate; only four Poffins remained, but she was already feeling a bit sick from eating so many.

"I can't do thisss," Seviper hissed quietly, pushing her plate away. "Sssorry, team."

Seviper slithered over towards the losers' table, receiving glares from Mienshao the whole way. The weasel scowled as Seviper sat down at the table and began conversing politely with Combusken.

"She's not even trying," Mienshao growled. "I hope she gets eliminated next. There's no excuse for dropping out in the first round."

"Unless you don't have a mouth," Vaporeon interjected.

Mienshao took a deep breath. "Yes. That is an acceptable reason," admitted Mienshao, looking much more calm.

 **-static-**

Several more minutes passed as the campers continued through the first course. Mawile was the next to finish, using both her normal mouth and the jaw attached to the back of her head to speed up the process of eating all of the Poffins.

Dusclops finished up shortly after her, and Druddigon, Lopunny, Vaporeon, Clauncher, and Castform had all cleared the first round within two minutes after Dusclops.

"Urf," Chatot moaned, clutching his stomach with two wings. "I don't think I can do it, Jolteon."

"Come on, dude! You can do this!" Jolteon encouraged him. "Are you going to be bested by a plate of Poffins, Chatot? Is that how you want to live your life?"

"Jolteon, I think I'm gonna be sick," Chatot groaned. His eyes widened and he flew over to the nearest trash can, vomiting all of the Poffins into the garbage.

"That's another one out," Jirachi commented. "Chatot almost finished the first round, but he vomits it all back up. That's an instant out, no matter how far you make it."

"It's all right. You gave it your best shot, I guess," Jolteon said as Chatot made his way past the Milotics' table again.

"I eat like a bird," Chatot groaned. "Sorry ya had ta see that embarrassin' display."

"You _are_ a bird, Chatot," Jolteon said. "Anyway, I can handle things from here."

"I'm countin' on ya," Chatot said, nodding at Jolteon. He kicked off of the floor and glided over to the losers' table, where he perched next to Seviper.

Only Cryogonal, Beedrill, Lilligant, and Reuniclus had not yet finished their meals or dropped out by this point. Things were not looking good for Beedrill and Cryogonal, who were both eating at a slow pace and looking worse for wear. Lilligant and Reuniclus seemed to be holding up fine, although they were also eating at a slower pace.

Diancie tapped her fingers on the table patiently, waiting for them to finish. Eventually, Beedrill pushed his plate away reluctantly. "I can't finish," he groaned, clutching his stomach. "Sorry, team."

"It's all right, man. We got this," Clauncher said, bumping fists with Reuniclus, who shoved one last Poffin into his mouth before holding up his empty plate for the hosts to see.

"Only two Pokemon have not finished the first course!" Jirachi announced. Cryogonal was attempting to down the last of the Poffins as Dusclops and Castform cheered him on. Clauncher was encouraging Lilligant to finish hers as well.

Lilligant swallowed her last Poffin and exhaled in relief. "I'm done," she stated. Diancie nodded and the hosts turned to face Cryogonal.

Eventually, Cryogonal finished his Poffins. "Whew," he managed to get out. "I really don't feel so great after that."

"Are you gonna make it another few rounds?" Dusclops asked. "Because that's probably all we need."

"I don't think so, but I'm not giving up yet," Cryogonal replied. Dusclops nodded and glanced up as Diancie began passing around plates full of familiar looking cupcakes.

"Hey! Aren't these my cupcakes?" Dusclops asked accusingly as a plate was passed to him.

"It's your recipe, but you chose to use it on live television, so I was able to make them myself," Diancie answered. Dusclops frowned, still not happy with that answer. "Anyways, there are fourteen cupcakes per camper this time. If you can finish those, you'll move on to round three."

"Begin!" called Jirachi from the table he was sitting at. The campers dug in and started devouring the Dusclops-cakes.

"Done."

The hosts stared at Jolteon in shock as he held up an empty plate. "What?" Jirachi sputtered. "But we just gave them to you! There's no way you could have eaten all of them by now!"

"I did, though," Jolteon said, tilting his head.

"Hmph. We'll see about that. Play back the tapes, Diancie," muttered Jirachi. He and Diancie leaned over a small screen, which displayed footage of the campers from only moments ago.

Surely enough, the tapes showed Jolteon shoving all fourteen Dusclops-cakes into his mouth at a frightening speed. Jirachi grudgingly glanced up and looked at Jolteon. "You pass," he grumbled. Jolteon grinned and tapped his paws on the table, waiting eagerly for the next course.

"Dude, how do you even eat that fast?" Noivern asked, her mouth agape. "I didn't even think that was possible!"

"Um, practice?" Jolteon replied awkwardly.

"You practice eating?" Castform said back to him.

Jolteon rubbed his neck with one paw. "It sounds a lot less cool when you say it like that."

From the Gastrodons' table, Mienshao watched Jolteon carefully. She tapped Lilligant's shoulder to get her attention. "There's no way we'll win if Jolteon keeps up at this rate," Mienshao whispered. "We need to sabotage him somehow."

"Then go sabotage him yourself," Lilligant responded coldly. She didn't even bother looking at Mienshao.

Mienshao was taken aback by Lilligant's tone, but she remained calm. "I'm not going to be able to pull this off alone," she said. "I need someone to distract the hosts while I figure out some way to get this into Jolteon's next meal." Mienshao held up the small bottle of red sauce from the last challenge under the table for Lilligant to see.

"Do you realize how ridiculous that plan is?" Lilligant snapped. Mienshao's eyes narrowed in anger. "Even if I distract the hosts, there is _no_ way that you would be able to get that into his next meal unnoticed. I'm not about to throw the challenge for some insane plan of yours."

"Well, if you _don't_ want to help me out, I suppose there's really no need for an alliance, is there?" Mienshao threatened quietly. "Keep in mind that I can leave at any time, and you'll be left alone with no one else to work with. You don't want that, do you?"

"Go ahead. Call off the alliance. See if I care anymore," Lilligant said. Mienshao was shocked by her response, but she knew drawing attention to the two of them right now was not ideal.

"If you're serious about what you're saying, I'm not going to let you back into this alliance no matter how much you beg," hissed Mienshao. "And believe me, you'll regret it."

Lilligant finally met Mienshao's gaze. Her eyes bore into Mienshao's, and there was nothing but an unnerving coldness there. The weasel quickly looked away and resumed eating the Dusclops-cakes without another word.

 **-static-**

" **I guess it's official. The alliance is dead," Lilligant declared. "I feel pretty good about that, actually."**

 **-static-**

" **She's just made the biggest mistake in the game," Mienshao growled. "If I was able to take out Minun, I can take out Lilligant, too."**

 **-static-**

Cryogonal groaned loudly and floated away from the table. "I'm dropping out," he stated. "There's no point in continuing. I'd never make it past the third round."

Jirachi nodded and pointed him towards the losers' table. Cryogonal took a place close to Chatot, and the two of them started chatting quietly about something.

"This challenge isn't looking like it's going to end well," Beedrill murmured to Seviper. "They've got Jolteon, and he's doing a lot better in this challenge than I would have ever guessed."

"Yeah, he sssurprisssed me," Seviper admitted. "But I wouldn't sssay we're done yet. Lopunny isssn't one to give up, and ssshe'll keep the othersss going."

Seviper suddenly heard the sound of someone retching behind her and looked to see Lopunny standing at a trash can, having just thrown up the Dusclops-cakes.

"Never mind," Seviper muttered.

 **-static-**

" **I have trouble eating sweet foods, and that cupcake recipe of Dusclops' was way too sweet," Lopunny said defensively. "Unfortunately, getting out in the second round reflects particularly poorly on me. I have to hope that we don't lose this time."**

 **-static-**

"Aw. That sucks," Vaporeon said, glancing over at Lopunny, who was now seated at the losers' table. "I guess we're down another Pokemon."

"Just eat the cupcakes so we can get this over with," Mienshao snapped at her. Vaporeon didn't know where the sudden attitude shift in Mienshao was coming from, but she started eating the Dusclops-cakes again, not wanting to get on Mienshao's bad side.

"Done!" exclaimed Mawile from the Milotics' table. Mieshao growled in frustration and started eating even faster. Vaporeon watched her, concerned about Mienshao's behavior.

 **-static-**

" **I knew something was up with Mienshao after she asked us to vote for Minun a few challenges ago," Vaporeon confessed. "But I think this game has really gotten to her head."**

 **-static-**

Clauncher and Druddigon finished at practically the same time. "I'm finished," Druddigon proclaimed as Clauncher jumped up in his seat and held up his plate with a grin.

Dusclops tossed another Dusclops-cake into his body and shook his head. "It just doesn't feel the same," he muttered sadly.

"Well, you can tell Diancie all about how to properly make your cupcakes when you're done, right?" Mawile told Dusclops. "So why don't you just try finishing this round for now?"

Dusclops' eye brightened and he dumped the rest of the Dusclops-cakes into his ghostly form. "Yeah! I _can_ do that!" he said cheerfully.

Mawile smiled at him. "Nice job. We're both in the next round, and it doesn't look like the Gastrodons are holding up nearly as well." She gestured to the Gastrodons, of which only Clauncher had completed the challenge thus far.

Mienshao finished the cupcakes shortly after Mawile said this. "Done," she said, showing her plate to the hosts.

"Five campers remain in the second round," Jirachi announced. "And it looks like Noivern and Lilligant have almost finished their meals!"

Noivern belched loudly and grinned at Castform. "Heh heh. Nice cupcakes, Diancie," she said, giving the co-host a toothy smile.

"They were mediocre at best," Dusclops muttered crossly to himself.

Lilligant finished the second course and wiped her mouth with a napkin. Diancie noted that she had finished as well. Only Reuniclus, Vaporeon, and Castform were not done yet.

Castform chewed on a Dusclops-cake slowly and groaned. "This is legitimately painful," she said. "Putting this challenge after breakfast was cruel, Jirachi."

"I try my best," the host replied smugly.

The remaining campers continued eating until eventually Reuniclus could take no more. "I'm dropping out," he said unhappily. He had barely made a dent in the Dusclops-cakes, yet he still looked sick to his stomach.

"Boooo," Clauncher booed him teasingly. Reuniclus shot Claucher a look and sat down next to Beedrill at the other table.

Castform finally dropped out a little while later, claiming that her odds of winning were ruined by her large breakfast. Vaporeon was able to finish the Dusclops-cakes, and made it to round three.

"And with Vaporeon finishing, everyone has finished the second round," Diancie announced. Only nine Pokemon remained in the contest; five were Milotics, and four were Gastrodons.

"Time for the third round, folks!" Jirachi said cheerfully, floating between the tables.

"Bring it on!" Clauncher challenged him.

Jirachi smirked cockily. "You may regret those words," the host said ominously. "Because this next course is the most difficult one yet!"

The Psychic-type host levitated two covered platters, setting one down on each table. He telekinetically removed the covers, revealing platters piled high with waffles.

"Waffles? Really?" snorted Noivern. "I'm definitely not scared of eating a bunch of waffles."

Even Dusclops looked let down. "I was expecting more once you said this was going to be the most difficult one yet."

"Well, go ahead and start eating them then, smarty-pants," taunted Jirachi.

Dusclops shrugged and stuffed a waffle into his face. "I don't taste anything," he muttered. "It's just like a regular waffle."

"You don't taste _anything?_ " asked Diancie, visibly disappointed.

"I don't have taste buds," Dusclops laughed. "Or a stomach, for that matter! Ha ha!"

"Wait a minute," Jirachi said irritably. "You're telling me that you've been competing in an eating contest and you don't even have a stomach?"

"I'm a ghost," said Dusclops, twiddling his fingers. "I kinda thought that was a given."

"So you could just keep eating food indefinitely?" Diancie inquired.

"I guess?" Dusclops replied. "I've never really tried. I don't eat much, since food doesn't taste like anything to me."

Jirachi and Diancie exchanged a quick glance. "Well, we'll give you immunity if you drop out now," Jirachi offered.

Dusclops' eye lit up. "Deal," he agreed immediately. Mawile frowned.

 **-static-**

" **Hey, immunity's immunity," Dusclops said nonchalantly. "I have to look out for myself at the end of the day."**

 **-static-**

" **I can't say that I blame him for dropping out for immunity, but that leaves us in a worse spot," Mawile stated. "Then again, we still have Jolteon. I'm not too worried."**

 **-static-**

"Now back to the matter at hand: waffles," Jirachi continued. "These may look like ordinary waffles, and may taste like ordinary waffles to those without taste buds," he said, pausing to look at Dusclops, "but they are, in fact, _spicy_ waffles!"

"Question: how does one make waffles spicy?" asked Clauncher, raising a claw.

"That is for me to know and you to eat," replied Diancie.

"Diancie, that makes no sense," Jirachi said, staring at her.

Diancie crossed her arms. "Oh, but it's okay when you tell me to clean up aisle three? We're in a cafeteria, Jirachi! There are no aisles!"

Clauncher watched the hosts bicker with an amused expression before taking a bite of one of the waffles. His face immediately went red and he gasped for breath. "HOT! OH CRAP IT'S ACTUALLY HOT!"

Clauncher spat out slightly chewed up pieces of waffle and immediately began filling his mouth with water to negate the effects of the spicy waffle. Jirachi raised an eyebrow at Clauncher's reaction.

"Anyone else want to try?" Jirachi asked. "Clauncher, you're eliminating for spitting out the food."

"So close," Clauncher groaned, crawling from the Gastrodons' table to the losers' table, where he was met by Reuniclus and Beedrill.

Lilligant hesitantly bit into a waffle and was surprised by how spicy it actually was. Her mouth felt like it was burning, but she kept eating, knowing that losing the challenge would be worse than having a sore mouth for a while.

Each camper only had to finish two of the torturous waffles, but most campers were struggling with their first. Jolteon, who had set a record pace for the first two rounds, was notably slowing down this time.

"Come on, Jolteon! If there's any time we need ya ta win, it's now!" Chatot shouted from the losers' table.

"I'm doing my best," Jolteon called back. He nearly choked on the waffle as he forced the last bite of the first one down. "Ugh. This is actually terrible. I never thought I could bring myself to hate a waffle, but this is just bad. No offense, Diancie."

"No, go right ahead. I made them awful on purpose this time," Diancie admitted.

"Damn," Jolteon muttered.

To the hosts' surprise, it was Druddigon who finished the third course before anyone else. "Done," he stated gruffly. Jirachi gave him a nod of acknowledgment.

"Druddigon passes the third round and makes it into the semifinal round," Jirachi announced. "Can anyone else stand up to him? Or is this the end?"

"Semifinal...so there are only five rounds?" Mawile calculated.

"Yes. Should there be a tie at the end of the final round, Diancie and I have a special tiebreaker planned," Jirachi informed the campers. "Hopefully it won't come to that."

Mawile swallowed nervously.

 **-static-**

It was several minutes before the next camper finished the waffles. Jolteon came in second this time, but looked pleased that he had still made it to the semifinal round. None of the Gastrodons had finished yet, but there were only three left to begin with.

Vaporeon was finally able to conquer the unpleasant waffles by diluting the taste with water. Noivern dropped out suddenly after Vaporeon finished, unable to handle the extreme flavor embedded in the waffles.

"There are three contestants left on each team, but the Marvelous Milotics still lead with two in the semifinals!" Jirachi declared. "Gastrodons, pick up the pace before you lose!"

"It's not like we aren't trying," said Mienshao with a scowl. She stabbed a waffle with her fork angrily and shoved a piece of it into her mouth. She visibly winced as she swallowed it; Mienshao had a fairly low tolerance for spicy food, but she wasn't about to let Jirachi have the satisfaction of seeing her lose.

"And now we wait," Jirachi said, leaning back in his chair cradling his head with his hands. Mawile, Lilligant, and Mienshao were all racing to finish their meals. "And just so this doesn't take forever, I'm putting a new rule in place: each course must be finished in under four minutes."

Mawile immediately sped up her eating process, as she was almost positive that three minutes had already passed, and she didn't want to be eliminated for running out of time. She managed to finish the waffles with some time remaining, but she felt a powerful stomachache beginning to form.

Lilligant was doing her best to finish the meal as well, but eventually she covered her mouth with one hand and rushed over to the trash can, vomiting the waffles into it. She turned back to her team, looking a bit flustered, but she walked over to the losers' table with as much grace as she could muster given the situation.

Only Mienshao had finished, and her teammates could tell she was fighting a losing battle. She still had one waffle left to finish, and her time was running out. Jirachi held up one hand after a few more seconds. "All right, stop," he called out. "Four minutes have passed. Mienshao, you're disqualified."

She pounded the table in frustration and walked over to the losers' table without a word. Seviper watched her warily from the other side of the table. Mienshao's temper was beginning to become a problem, at least in Seviper's eyes.

"Am I the only Gastrodon left…?" wondered Vaporeon, glancing around. Her table was empty. "Shoot. Now there's pressure on me."

The Bubble Jet Pokemon glanced over at the Milotics' table, where Mawile, Jolteon, and Druddigon remained seated. Jolteon gave her a subtle wave and a smile, which she returned.

"Okay, we're moving on to the semifinal round!" Jirachi announced enthusiastically. "Are you all excited? I know I am! Now, I know you're wondering how we can top spicy waffles, but I assure you that we have plenty of tricks up our sleeves!"

Diancie unveiled the next course, and the campers gazed upon a familiar looking pasta dish. Noivern gasped as she recognized it.

"Hey! That's my pasta!" she shouted. "You can't use that!"

"But we can, since we're the ones running the show," replied Jirachi smugly.

"Not cool, dude," Noivern said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, it's basically like you're stealing somebody else's hard work," Dusclops commented. "You can't just steal Noivern's recipe and use that. She worked hard on it last challenge!"

"We're aware. So we decided not to use her recipe," Jirachi told him. Dusclops looked confused, so the host continued. "What you see here is the same pasta dish that Noivern made yesterday for the cooking challenge."

"If it was enough to make us vomit, hopefully it will have the same effect on the campers," Diancie said.

"What's next, Jolteon's puke salad?" asked Baltoy sarcastically. He managed to get a chuckle out of Castform.

Jirachi paused. "Well, that _may_ or may not be the tiebreaker course. Hopefully you won't have to find out."

"I regret even asking," Baltoy groaned.

Mawile was prodding the pasta with a fork suspiciously. There wasn't anything visibly wrong with it, but with the knowledge that both Jirachi and Diancie had rejected it, she didn't have high hopes. She shrugged and put some of it into her mouth.

Seconds later, Mawile regretted that decision, and she immediately threw up all over the floor. Druddigon and Jolteon stared at her and then looked at each other, not sure how anyone was supposed to pass this round.

"Well," Jirachi said, staring at Mawile, who was recovering from having just puked all over the floor, "I may have misjudged the difficulty of this round."

"You think?" Baltoy asked.

"Quiet, you," Jirachi hissed at the clay Pokemon. He turned back to Jolteon, Druddigon, and Vaporeon. "Okay. Well, Mawile is already out, but if any of you three can finish one bite of this pasta without puking it back up, I'll pass you on to the final round."

Mawile made her way over to the losers' table with a frown. Cryogonal turned to her as she sat down. "I don't think anyone blames you for losing that round," he told her.

"I know. But I was hoping to get further," she muttered. "Hopefully Jolteon and Druddigon can pull this off. I really don't want to see us lose for the third time in a row."

"Me neither," Dusclops concurred. "I mean, I guess I wouldn't hate losing Baltoy or maybe Druddigon, but I like most of our teammates."

"Druddigon's good in challenges," Cryogonal pointed out. "Though I will admit sometimes he's a bit of a hothead."

"Speaking of which, I think he might make it!" Dusclops exclaimed as Druddigon attempted to eat Noivern's ruined pasta. In just a few seconds, Druddigon gagged on the pasta and immediately spat it onto the floor.

"Damn," Druddigon growled. "What the hell was in that pasta, Noivern?"

"I swear I didn't do anything to it! That was Lilligant!" Noivern blurted out, pointing at Lilligant. Almost all eyes in the room turned to Lilligant, who seemed very uncomfortable with being the center of attention.

"Lilligant?" Lopunny repeated, facing her teammate. "Lilligant, did you work on Noivern's salad?"

"You let her help you?" Druddigon asked Noivern. He had his temper under control at the moment, but Noivern didn't want to provoke him any further.

"You bettah explain yahself," Chatot told Noivern sternly.

Noivern sighed and decided that it was probably best to be honest with her teammates. "Lilligant said she knew something to make the pasta better, so I let her help. I don't know what I was thinking," she said, hanging her head.

"But that means that Lilligant was working with the other team during the last challenge!" Clauncher said. "That doesn't make sense!"

"Hmph. So you were working with the other team, were you?" Mienshao interjected coldly. Lilligant looked at Mienshao, horrified. Her former alliance leader had the power to pin the blame on Lilligant and get away with it, especially since Noivern only knew of Lilligant's involvement in the sabotage.

"I didn't...I didn't help her," Lilligant told her team. She knew she was backed into a corner, but there had to be some way to convince her team that she wasn't a traitor. "I added a sauce to the pasta that made the hosts throw up. It was sabotage."

Noivern clenched her fists in anger. "So you DID do it!" she screeched. "I never should have trusted you! You lied to me!"

Lilligant sat down, trembling. She didn't know what to say. She could still feel the intensity of everybody's gazes on her, but she couldn't bring herself to look at any of them.

"It sounds to me like you were helping Noivern and you're just looking for an excuse to make it seem like it was for the good of our team," Mienshao accused Lilligant. "I don't think anyone here is stupid enough to believe that. Not after you voted out your so-called friends, Tyranitar and Minun. You don't really care about this team, do you?"

Lilligant stared down at the table with an empty expression. She didn't know what to do; Mienshao was about to throw her under the bus, and the rest of her teammates would probably believe her. It made sense; after all, she _had_ voted out Tyranitar and Minun. Beedrill already knew that, too.

"G-guys, stop. We're a team."

Lilligant was surprised to hear Combusken's voice, of all things. She looked up to see a highly uncomfortable Combusken fidgeting in his seat. He seemed to regret speaking up, but there was no going back.

"Lilligant is still part of our team. I don't think she would betray us, or sabotage the other team," Combusken said. "That goes against the way she's acted up until now. B-but my point is that I think we should work together instead of pointing fingers at each other."

Mienshao was about to fire something back, but Clauncher nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I don't think Lilligant would sabotage anyone, either," he said. "At any rate, we're still in the middle of a challenge, so I think we should probably finish that before we decide whether or not we believe Lilligant."

"Jeez, finally. Thanks for getting us back on track, Clauncher. I thought the drama would never end," Jirachi said, rolling his eyes. "Jolteon and Vaporeon have yet to try the nasty pasta. Can they pull it off? Or can one team clinch the win?"

"Stop asking rhetorical questions already," Baltoy drawled. Jirachi stuck out his tongue at the Ground-type.

Jolteon pinched his nose with one paw and scooped the pasta into his mouth, swallowing it without even chewing so he wouldn't have to taste it. He managed to swallow it, and a few seconds passed without anything happening.

"I think it's safe to say that Jolteon was able to best the pasta," Jirachi said, impressed. "Vaporeon, you want to give it a go?"

Vaporeon copied Jolteon's strategy, pinching her nose and swallowing one bite of the pasta whole. She managed to get it down without having it come back up.

"Huh. Impressive," Jirachi said. "Well, it looks like our final round will be Jolteon against Vaporeon! Don't worry, this one should be easier than the last. If worst comes to worst, we have the tiebreaker."

Jolteon rubbed his front paws together eagerly as the final course was brought out to him. Diancie uncovered his plate to reveal an enormous slice of Rawst berry pie.

Vaporeon eyed the slice of pie with well-placed suspicion. "Is this just a slice of pie?" she asked. "No tricks, no vomit-inducing sauce, and no other creative method of ruining an otherwise good food?"

"It's just pie," replied Jirachi innocently.

Vaporeon didn't seem very reassured, but she tasted the pie anyway. It tasted just like a regular pie, but she couldn't be certain. She ate another bite and began thinking that perhaps there were really no tricks involved.

On the other hand, Jolteon hadn't even made any moves towards eating the pie. "What's wrong?" Chatot squawked at him.

"I'm allergic to Rawst berries," Jolteon mumbled, paralyzed by fear. His allergies were bad enough to keep him from eating the pie, but he felt pressured by his team to win.

"Gee, that's unfortunate. Eat it anyway," Chandelure said unsympathetically.

"My allergies are life threatening!" Jolteon whimpered, frantically looking at his teammates.

"Are you going to drop out?" Jirachi prompted him.

Jolteon reached for his fork to take a bite of the pie but retracted his paw at the last second. "I can't do it," he sighed. "I'm dropping out."

The Milotics seemed disappointed by Jolteon's decision, but most of them understood his position and didn't seem to hold any grudges against him. Vaporeon grinned triumphantly and ran over to her teammates, where she began talking excitedly to Lopunny. Jolteon let out a disappointed sigh as he watched her go.

"It seems the game is decided," Jirachi declared. "The Great Gastrodons are victorious! Marvelous Milotics, you'll be eliminating someone tonight. Keep in mind that Dusclops is immune."

Dusclops made finger guns at Jirachi and chuckled good-naturedly as he left the cafeteria with his teammates. Noivern cast a furious glare at Lilligant as she walked out the door.

 **-static-**

" **I can't believe the other team just let Lilligant off like that!" Noivern shouted. "She's been working right under our noses the entire time! If they don't eliminate her before the merge, I'll eliminate her myself!"**

 **-static-**

" **Am I worried about elimination tonight? No, not really," Baltoy said, though he didn't sound too sure of himself. "Noivern and Castform probably wouldn't vote me out after Azurill tried to save me, so that's...three votes not against me."**

 **He fell into silence for a few moments. "Yeah, I'm pretty screwed, actually."**

 **-static-**

" **I may have been the first one out in this challenge, but I know the team would much rather get rid of Baltoy than risk losing someone like myself, who is actually useful," Chandelure stated confidently. "The only reason he's not gone is Azurill, after all."**

 **-static-**

Mawile caught Baltoy as he was leaving the confessional and walked up to him. "Excuse me," she began. Baltoy looked mildly surprised to see that she was talking to him, but he stopped to listen. "I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead," he muttered. "I've really got nothing to lose."

"I'm sure you recall that Scrafty had a fake idol during his elimination," Mawile reminded Baltoy. "Do you happen to know anything about that?"

"Ah, that's what this is about," Baltoy realized. "I figured that you spent an awfully large portion of your time with Scrafty, but I didn't really put it together until now. You were allied with him, weren't you?"

"Yes, but it was only for a short time," Mawile admitted. "Now, back to my question: do you have any information about the fake idol? I'm aware that you found the real one, so I figured you of all Pokemon might know."

Baltoy let out a sardonic chuckle. "Do I know anything about it? I'm the one who _made_ the fake idol," he told her. "I suppose it doesn't matter what I did, does it? I'm bound to go home tonight anyway."

Mawile wasn't shocked by his reply, but she was a bit taken aback by his willingness to give her the answer. "You made it?" she asked. "Why?"

"To trick someone else, obviously," he explained. "If someone else thinks they have something that can save them from elimination, they're more likely to pull risky moves, correct? My goal was to have someone slip up and do something foolish because they think they're safe. They'd be sending themselves home, and I would get to keep my hands clean."

"I would hardly call that clean," Mawile argued. "You tricked Scrafty into thinking he had an idol. He even said that he'd found it in the chest."

"You still don't get it?" Baltoy asked, shaking his head. "Here, let me spell it out for you: I found the key. I was the first Pokemon to find that key and open the chest, thus entitling me to the idol inside."

The Psychic-type spun a few feet further, and Mawile followed him. "Once I had found it, I had the idea to make a dud. So I did. I made a wooden idol, knowing that I was the only one to know the idol's actual appearance and thus would be the only one to be able to identify that it was fake. I stowed that fake idol in the chest and hid the key somewhere that was easy to find, in the hopes that someone else would take the bait and use that fake idol."

The clay Pokemon paused and faced Mawile. "I apologize if you're angry that I tricked Scrafty and gave him false hope. But you have to understand that I didn't pick any targets; it could have been anyone who found that key and fell for the trap instead."

"That doesn't make it any better that you formed a plan to trick someone else into getting eliminated," Mawile said. "I'm not angry; actually, I'm admittedly a bit impressed. Your plan was well-executed, and I didn't see through it until today. But your own plan wasn't really worth much if it didn't save you, was it?"

"That remains to be seen," said Baltoy, though his voice was devoid of all hope. He turned away and made his way toward the male Milotics' cabin. "Good luck in the ceremony tonight."

Mawile watched as he disappeared into the cabin, feeling mixed emotions about the schemer now that his actions had been revealed. He had gotten Scrafty eliminated, but at the same time, it felt as though there was really no malice behind his actions. Mawile got the impression that Baltoy was only looking out for himself, and the eliminations of anyone else were mere side effects of his plan in his eyes.

The Steel-type returned to her own cabin to give some thought to the upcoming elimination. Someone still had to go home that night.

 **-static-**

"I see ya haven't changed ya mind about the alliance, eh?"

Noivern and Castform stood at the entrance to the clearing that Chatot had told them to meet in. The bird and his Electric-type friend were already there, sitting on a couple of logs. Noivern sat down across from Jolteon and Castform uncomfortably floated over after her.

Chatot tipped his hat to the ladies. "So, we've got a fair selection of Pokemon ta eliminate," he began. "Jolteon an' I have settled on Baltoy as the best candidate, but I thought I'd hear ya out since we're workin' togethah now."

"I don't know if that's the best idea," Castform interrupted him. "Azurill did give up her place in the competition to let him stay."

"Well, like it or not, Azurill ain't here right now," Chatot said. "That's the reality of things. An' as much as I respect Azurill, I need a bettah reason ta justify keepin' Baltoy around any longah."

Castform was silent. "Ya don't got one?" Chatot prompted her. "Well, then I think it's obvious why he should go. If ya can't come up with a reason fah him ta stay, then I think ya oughtta vote with us."

"Now, hold on," Noivern said. "You're involved in some sort of conflict with Druddigon, right?"

"How'd ya know about that?" Chatot asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Dude, you two are glaring at each other on a daily basis. It's not exactly a secret," Noivern told him.

Chatot sighed. "Well, whatevah. Druddigon an' I had a conflict of interests and he left the alliance that Jolteon an' I made with him," Chatot revealed. "There, now all mah cards are on the table."

"So why don't we vote out Druddigon instead of Baltoy?" Noivern suggested. She definitely wasn't Baltoy's biggest fan, but she also didn't want to see Azurill's last wish on the show be wasted.

"See, Druddigon's still useful in the challenges," Chatot explained. "Despite our differences, we've sorta come to the unspoken agreement that we don't vote fah each othah without a reason to do so."

"Yeah, because that would just cause us to waste our votes on each other pretty much every time we lost," Jolteon added. "We figured out pretty quickly that we were the only ones voting for Druddigon, and that's sort of a waste of votes, don't you think?"

Noivern struggled to think of a counterargument, but their logic was fairly well reasoned. "All right," Noivern grumbled. "Thanks for hearing us out."

Noivern motioned for Castform to follow her, and she flew out of the clearing. Castform cleared her throat and gave the two guys a curt nod before floating out after her friend.

Chatot was quiet for a moment. "I get the feelin' they ain't gonna vote with us tonight," he murmured.

"It'll be fine," Jolteon said. "We're not in any danger."

"An' that's good enough fah me," Chatot chirped, popping open a bag of chips. Jolteon smiled and munched on some chips from a bag that he had already opened.

 **-static-**

Jirachi floated at his podium in front of ten Milotic campers. "Welcome back, everyone," Jirachi said. "The votes tonight were much more interesting than yesterday's! It seems some of you have had a change of heart."

Druddigon tapped his clawed digits on his knee patiently. "I know you're all anxious to hear who the big loser is, so I'll get right on with it," Jirachi said. "Dusclops, you are the first Pokemon safe tonight, since you have immunity."

Dusclops flashed Cryogonal a thumbs-up and went to claim a Pokeblock from Jirachi. "Next up on the safe list, we have Chatot and Jolteon," Jirachi announced.

Chatot fluttered over to the host and plucked a Pokeblock from his hand. Jolteon followed him over and took a Pokeblock politely.

"Mawile and Castform, the two of you are safe," Jirachi told them. Castform seemed relieved to hear her name. Mawile didn't seem too worried to begin with, but she also relaxed after her name was called.

"Cryogonal," Jirachi called. The snowflake Pokemon felt a creeping dread dissipate as he went up to claim his Pokeblock.

Only Druddigon, Chandelure, Baltoy, and Noivern had not yet received Pokeblocks. "Chandelure, you are safe," Jirachi called. The ghostly girl's deadpan expression did not change for even a second as she went to take a Pokeblock.

Druddigon felt his fists clench up a bit. The bottom three was not a good place to be, especially considering how well he had done in the challenge.

Baltoy seemed to have accepted the possibility of elimination, but he was nonetheless attentive to Jirachi as the host twirled a Pokeblock on his finger.

Noivern cast guilty glances at the other two candidates for elimination. She didn't know what would happen, but she just hoped she didn't get sent home.

"Noivern, you can relax. Your team has opted to keep you for another round, despite your evident mistake in the last challenge," Jirachi informed her. Noivern felt a smile of relief spread across her face, and she flew over to take a Pokeblock.

Druddigon felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. He had never been this close to elimination before. Much to his dismay, he didn't even know why he was on the chopping block.

Baltoy hopped off of his stump and picked up his suitcase, which was readily packed in case of his elimination. "Just give him the Pokeblock," Baltoy said with a sigh.

"Gladly," Jirachi said with a smirk, tossing Druddigon a Pokeblock. The gargoyle glanced over at Baltoy briefly before standing up.

"It's time for you to leave, isn't it?" Druddigon asked, turning to Baltoy.

"It is," the clay Pokemon said. "I'd love to say it's been fun, but I'm not a great liar. Hopefully I won't have to see most of you ever again. With that said, good luck and goodbye."

On that final sarcastic note, Baltoy headed into the confessional, leaving the remaining nine Milotics one step closer to victory.

 **-static-**

" **I saw it coming. I'd love to say that I tried my best and got eliminated because there was just no way to avoid it, but I've had this coming for a while," Baltoy muttered. "I made too many enemies. I got cocky. But most importantly, I seemed to forget that there was a strategic value to working together in a game like this. I think that was my biggest mistake."**

 **Baltoy shifted slightly to the left on the seat. "I guess I let Azurill down by getting eliminated so soon, but I'm pretty sure she knew I'd never make it. I guess that makes her choice all the more respectable. Or foolish, depending on how you look at it," he reasoned.**

 **The Ground-type picked up his suitcase and mockingly saluted the camera. "So long, Pokemon Drama Island," he muttered. "May the best Pokemon win."**

 **-static-**

Surprisingly enough, most of the Milotics showed up to see Baltoy off. The cynical psychic assumed that half of them were probably there to get the satisfaction of watching him leave, but he attempted to enjoy the moment for what it was.

None of the Milotics attempted to say goodbye to Baltoy, so the Lapras departed quickly, taking him away from the island. Noivern muttered something unintelligibly and wandered back towards the cabins. Castform followed her shortly afterward.

Chandelure chuckled darkly as the last of the Milotics trickled away from the docks. Another one down, seventeen to go.

 **-static-**

Lilligant sat by the shore of the lake. She was alone at the moment, needing some space from everyone else. It made her feel a bit better to know that Combusken and Clauncher stood up for her, but now that she had turned Mienshao against her, there was really no going back.

"Are you all right?"

Lilligant heard the familiar hiss of Seviper's voice, and she turned around to see the serpent approaching her cautiously. "You left the cabin ssso sssuddenly. I jussst wanted to sssee if everything wasss all right."

"I'm fine," Lilligant said weakly.

"You don't sssound fine." Seviper was clearly not fooled by Lilligant's words.

"I don't know what to do," Lilligant said miserably. "I made a mistake by joining Mienshao's alliance, and now that I left, I think she's trying to sabotage me."

"You left Mienssshao?" asked Seviper. She sounded surprised. "Well, good for you. Now ssshe'sss got one lesss Pokemon protecting her. It'll be easssier to get her out now."

"Yeah, but now the team thinks I helped the Milotics!" Lilligant said frantically. "And Noivern probably hates me! I know she does! I just...I…"

Lilligant sniffled loudly, and Seviper cast her a sympathetic look. "I think you did the right thing," Seviper said calmly. "You ssstopped Mienshao from usssing you any longer. You ssstood up to her. And sssoon enough, I bet ssshe'll be the one riding that Lapras home."

Lilligant laughed weakly. "She can't go home soon enough," Lilligant said.

"Well, jussst know that not all of usss are out to get you," said Seviper, turning around and slithering away. "If you need help, you jussst come find me. We can take Mienssshao down together."

Lilligant felt the first genuine smile in a while spread across her face.

* * *

That wraps up this episode, and there are only two left before the merge! Who do you think will make it? Any predictions yet?

Now, about the elimination: I'm pretty sure almost nobody actually saw Baltoy winning the competition, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he would get eliminated sooner or later. Realistically, it would have been difficult to keep him any longer, so I gave him what I deemed an appropriate ending. Baltoy actually did very well in the game for being a one-man team.

It may not come as a shock that Baltoy masterminded the entire idol scheme. As the owner of the idol, he would be the only camper to be able to distinguish the real idol from a fake one, thus making him able to manipulate Scrafty into thinking that he would be safe.

This episode was also pretty heavy on Lilligant's plots, since she's stirred up drama with both Noivern and Mienshao. It was sort of inevitable to make her a focus in this episode because of what happened last time, but I'll try my best to prevent her from hogging too much screentime. At least she seems to be settling down from all that drama thanks to Seviper.

Noivern and Chatot's co-alliance seems to be off to a rough start, but there's potential for a pretty powerful force there, at least in terms of voting. If all four of them vote together, they make up almost half of the remaining Milotics.

There's also some more plot buildup Vaporeon, Jolteon, and Lopunny in this episode, too. Something's bound to happen eventually, and Jolteon seems to be making progress in his relationship with Vaporeon.

Also, Combusken offers some emotional support for Lilligant this episode and I think that deserves some recognition. A round of applause, folks.

Frillish is confirmed for season two.

Baltoy: You could review to support the production of this show, or you could not review just to piss Jirachi off. Do what you will.


	16. Rowdy Relay

Hi, guys! Sorry for not updating again in a while, but these things happen. As compensation for the ridiculous waiting time on this chapter, it's officially the longest one yet! (Which was entirely unintentional but still pretty neat.)

Have fun reading! I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Beedrill sat in the cafeteria by himself, sipping some tea from a mug that was carefully balanced between his needles. He almost didn't notice Seviper slithering into the cafeteria in his only half-awakened state, but he welcomed her over to his table once he saw her.

"Morning," Seviper greeted him once she took her place across the table. "What'sss gotten you up ssso early?"

"I don't know. I just feel restless. Sitting around the cabin all day isn't going to fix that," Beedrill stated. He took another short sip from his mug and allowed his eyes to rest on Seviper. "How about you?"

"I wasss hoping to talk to sssome of my teammates," Seviper replied honestly, "but none of them are awake yet, and I couldn't get back to sssleep. I figured I might come here for a sssnack."

Since it was still very early in the morning and the hosts were not yet awake, the cafeteria was being run by Conkeldurr, the island's one and only underpaid maintenance man. Seviper got up to ask him for some food, and he returned a moment later with two bags of chips.

"Uh...thanksss?" Seviper said, giving them a distrustful eye.

"You're welcome," Conkeldurr grunted. "Please go back to sleep now. I don't like working late hours."

"Sssorry I asssked," Seviper muttered. She took the chips in her tail and slithered out of the cafeteria without another word, leaving Beedrill and Conkeldurr alone.

The quiet buzz of the overhead lights was all that kept complete silence at bay. Beedrill glanced up from his mug to see Conkeldurr's intense gaze boring into him. He shifted to the left uncomfortably and then got up and left entirely, feeling Conkeldurr's eyes on him the whole time.

 **-static-**

" **Conkeldurr feels like that one guy in a horror movie that you should NEVER trust," Beedrill commented. "Like, there's just something off about him. I know he supposedly does maintenance around the camp during the daytime, but we never see him."**

 **Beedrill shivered in place a bit. "Jeez, that kind of gives me chills. I wonder why that is."**

 **-static-**

"Hey, Clauncher."

Clauncher rubbed his eyes tiredly and looked up to see Combusken exiting the cabin. The Fire-type sat down next to Clauncher on the cabin steps.

"Hey, buddy. What's up?" Clauncher mumbled drowsily.

"I, uh," Combusken hesitated mid-sentence, unsure of how Clauncher would react. "I kind of want to start training again."

This got Clauncher's attention, and the crustacean fixed Combusken with a funny look. "Training? Like you did with Swinub?" Clauncher inquired. "I mean, I'm not opposed, but why?"

"I don't feel strong enough yet," Combusken admitted, kicking at the dirt halfheartedly with his talons. "Swinub never even evolved, and he was still way stronger than I am now."

Combusken looked Clauncher in the eyes with a kind of determination Clauncher hadn't expected to see from his friend. "I want to know what it's like to be strong."

Clauncher scratched his head. "Well, uh, sure. Give me a moment to wake myself up a bit more and we can have at it."

"Really?" Combusken seemed surprised by Clauncher's willingness to go along with his request. "Uh, thank you! I promise I won't waste your time!"

Clauncher chuckled. "You'd better not."

 **-static-**

" **I think it's good to see that he's trying to train again," Clauncher said with a shrug. "I don't know what's motivating him, but our team can always stand to grow stronger."**

 **Clauncher bounced up and down in his seat. "Especially since we're tied with the Milotics for the first time since the beginning of the show!" he exclaimed. "It's comeback time, baby!"**

 **-static-**

Reuniclus was awoken to the periodic sounds of grunting outside his window. He pushed himself into a position in his bed from which he could look out the window and squinted his eyes. It looked like...Combusken and Clauncher?

"Huh," Reuniclus murmured sleepily to himself. "Oh well. Time to go back to sl—"

"CAMPERS! REPORT TO THE DOCKS IMMEDIATELY! YOUR CHALLENGE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!" Jirachi's lively voice rang out throughout camp.

"It's four in the morning," groaned Reuniclus, covering his head with a pillow. "Why."

 **-static-**

Once the remaining eighteen campers had gathered at the docks, Jirachi and Diancie made their appearance. Jirachi cleared his throat an excessive amount of times before deeming it clear enough to begin his instruction.

"Welcome to the today's challenge, campers!" Jirachi said cheerfully. "And don't worry, it has nothing to do with food this time around!"

"Thank Arceus," Mienshao muttered quietly. Several other campers also voiced their appreciation of the lack of a food theme this time around.

"There bettah be a good reason we're doin' this challenge at four in the morning," Chatot groaned, rubbing his eyes with his wings.

"Nope! There's not. I just like seeing you guys acting all grumpy because we're doing a challenge at an inopportune time, like this one!" Jirachi said happily. "Actually, this challenge involves a fair bit of exercise, so you can burn off some of those calories you earned last episode!"

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you woke us up at four in the morning to do this." Chandelure, who was already irritated with the hosts on a regular basis, looked like she wanted to murder somebody.

"Well, deal with it!" snapped Jirachi, fed up with the campers' complaints. "I said we're doing a challenge early in the morning, so we're doing it!"

"Anyways," interrupted Diancie, taking care of the situation before it escalated further, "your challenge today is a relay race. You'll be racing around the island in a nine-legged race, and the first team to reach the goal wins."

"And each leg of the race is different, I presume?" Cryogonal guessed. "That's the gimmick, right?"

"Correct," Diancie confirmed. "Our race begins here, which is why we've brought you to the docks. We'll explain the course that the race will take, and then we'll let you begin."

"Also, you _are_ allowed to choose which camper participates in whichever section of the race you want them to compete in," Jirachi added. "This will allow you to optimize your strategy, and since the teams are _finally_ equal again, it should be a fair challenge! Isn't that great?"

"I think it's pretty great," Clauncher said, grinning.

"Yeah, I figured you would, Claws," Jirachi said, shaking his head.

"So what does the challenge entail?" asked Mawile, getting straight to the point.

"The race begins here at the beach. The first leg of the race is to run from here to the woods," Jirachi explained, pointing off into the distance as he said this. The woods weren't far from the beach, so some of the campers were suspicious that the path would be filled with traps. "Simple enough, right?"

Jirachi clapped his hands together and the campers, along with the hosts, were warped to the other side of the woods. "The first leg ends here, and the second runner will take over once the first runner reaches them," Jirachi continued. "The second runner will then run from the edge of the woods until they reach the tunnels."

Once again, Jirachi brought the campers to a new location with a simple clap of his hands—this time, they were at the entrance to the island's complex cave system. "I won't lie to you, the third leg of the race is probably the hardest," Jirachi admitted. "The third runner will run through the tunnels until they find their way out. The exit tunnel will lead you to the base of the mountain," he finished, pointing to the towering mountain in the distance. Many campers recalled struggling to climb it during the eleventh challenge.

"Of course, if we didn't provide you with some guidance, you would get lost in the tunnels, without a doubt," Diancie said. "We've marked each of the tunnels you should avoid with a red 'X.' Don't go in those ones unless you want to get lost."

Druddigon stared into the dark tunnels intently. He had attempted to navigate the tunnels numerous times, during various challenges and also when searching for the key, so he had achieved a degree of familiarity with their layout. But Jirachi's warning about the tunnels made him less confident of his ability to navigate through them, and doubt began to cloud his mind.

"Now," Jirachi resumed his explanation, clapping his hands and taking them to the base of the mountain, "once the third runner has arrived here, number four takes over. The fourth runner must figure out a way to get from the base of the mountain all the way up there."

As Jirachi finished his sentence, he gestured to a vague area somewhere high up on the mountain. Dusclops scratched his head. "Uh, where exactly do you mean?" Dusclops asked after a brief pause.

Jirachi sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "Up HERE," he stated, teleporting the campers to the end of the fourth leg of the race. The campers found themselves about halfway up the icy mountain; a certain altitude had been marked by a number of green flags to indicate the finish line for the fourth runner.

Jirachi decided to continue his explanation once the campers had taken in their surroundings. "Once up here, the fifth runner will begin their leg of the race," Jirachi told the campers. "The fifth camper will travel all the way from this mountain to the top of the cliff!"

Vaporeon stared at the host in shock. "How is that even possible?" she asked in disbelief. "It would take a ridiculous amount of time for anyone to climb all the way back down the mountain and even longer to climb all the way up the cliff!"

"I agree," Mawile interjected, giving Jirachi a dubious look. "Is there some kind of trick to this?"

"Hey, I think I've made it abundantly clear by now that it's my job to make these challenges HARD, not easy," Jirachi said, throwing his hands up. "It's up to you to figure out how you want to handle them."

"Yeah, because _that's_ fair," Mienshao complained under her breath. Beedrill gave the hosts a cross look as well.

Diancie drew the campers' attention to herself and resumed the explanation. "After the runner arrives at the cliff, the next one will have to find a way from the top of the cliff to the bottom," she said. "There are a number of ways to achieve that, but few of them will be easy."

"Couldn't the sixth runner just walk back down the other side of the cliff?" Cryogonal pointed out bluntly.

Diancie froze. "Well, yes, I suppose they could," she muttered.

Jirachi shook his head at the co-host. "Don't be silly, Diancie! Of course they can't!" he said joyously. "Walking down the side of the cliff is now banned, courtesy of Cryogonal mentioning it! Thanks, Cryogonal!"

Several of the campers fixed Cryogonal with sharp glares. "My bad," he muttered unhappily.

"Anyways, once a camper reaches the bottom of the cliff, they'll allow the seventh runner to take over," Diancie continued. "The seventh runner can take some liberties with their route. Either they can travel through the lake to get to the other side, or go _around_ the lake to avoid swimming through it. Both paths will have plenty of obstacles."

"What a surprise," Chandelure droned unenthusiastically.

"On the other side of the lake, the eighth runner will begin their run! They'll have to make their way through camp and down to the beach!" Jirachi said. He warped the campers to the beach where they had begun their tour of the course.

"So the race ends where it begins?" Cryogonal asked. "I guess that makes sense."

"Nope! As much as it would be cool to have things come full circle like that, we've only covered the first eight legs of the race!" Jirachi corrected him. "And if you remember how this works, there have to be nine!"

"The final leg of the race will be a full out sprint along the beach to the docks," Diancie finished for him. "Once at the docks, the ninth runner will have won the race for their team. Any questions?"

Noivern raised a wing, and Diancie nodded at her, prompting her to ask her question. "You said this was a relay race, right?" Noivern said. "So what are we supposed to pass along to each other?"

"These backpacks!" said Jirachi brightly, holding up a medium-sized backpack in each of his hands. "We had to come up with something that everyone would be able to carry. I wanted it to be torches, but that idea was turned down because _some people_ can't carry them."

Cryogonal felt the host's eyes on him. "What? That's not my fault!" Cryogonal said defensively.

 **-static-**

" **Jeez, it's like everyone is out to get me today," Cryogonal said nervously. "I don't really believe in luck, but I think mine might be bad today anyway."**

 **-static-**

"Are there any other questions?" asked Jirachi. After no one else raised an appendage (and those without appendages chose not to speak), he took their lack of response affirmatively. "Good! Fantastic. I guess we don't have to waste any more time, then!"

"Wait, wait, actually I do have a question!" Noivern spoke up again suddenly.

Jirachi groaned audibly. "Yes, Noivern?"

"Are we allowed to fly and stuff?" Noivern inquired, gesturing to herself and Chatot as she asked her question. "Because that could make a big difference for our team."

"Yeah. Sure, why the heck not," Jirachi said with a shrug. "Just stick to the course or else I'll have to disqualify your team for cheating."

"All right!" cheered Noivern, grinning wildly. "Chatot, my man! You ready to go?"

"I'm ready ta go back ta bed," Chatot groaned.

Noivern cackled and punched him in the wing. "C'mon, birdbrain! You have to stay awake for the challenge! This is what it's all about!"

"I feel like I'm gonna die," Chatot moaned miserably.

"Psh, quit being such a drama queen," Noivern said, brushing him off. "We've got a race to win! It's time break our losing streak!"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Castform cheered, feeling invigorated by Noivern's boundless energy.

Chatot sighed and perched his hat atop his head with one wing. "Let's get this ovah with," he said, shaking his head.

 **-static-**

" **So, uh, I was feeling pretty down after Azurill got out and then the whole Lilligant incident blew up," Noivern admitted. "And then I thought to myself, like, what the heck am I doing? I came here to have fun and win some money, so that's what I'm going to do!"**

 **Noivern gave the camera a forced smile. "Yep. Gonna win me some money." She gave the camera a thumbs-up.**

 **-static-**

"We'll leave you to it," Jirachi told the campers as he and Diancie gave them some space. "Figure out who you want to compete in which leg of the race. And no, nobody can compete more than once."

"Hm. If everyone has to participate in this challenge, that could slow us down," Druddigon stated. "No offense to Pokemon like Castform and Cryogonal, but I don't think either of you are particularly known for being fast."

"None taken," said Cryogonal with a disheartened sigh. Dusclops gave him a consoling pat on the back.

"But since we'll need to make the best use of everyone that we have, I say we put you two in situations where you'll do well," Druddigon reasoned. "Since the hosts allowed everyone to fly, I say we allow Castform to tackle the mountain climb and Cryogonal to fly from the mountain to the cliff. They'll trivialize those parts of the race."

"That's good thinking, actually," Chatot admitted grudgingly. "Any complaints from you two?"

"Nope. I can change to suit the weather, after all!" Castform said with a wink. "That mountain's got nothing on me!"

"I can't imagine what could go wrong. It's just a flight from the mountain to the cliff," Cryogonal said. "There's only so many possibilities for failure."

"Dude, you're gonna jinx it," Noivern warned him.

"Bit late for the warning, but thanks," Cryogonal muttered.

Druddigon rubbed his hands together as he formed a plan in his mind. "Chandelure, being able to float, should take the stretch along the beach. Knowing Jirachi, he's probably planted some mines in the beach again, and she could avoid them if he did," the Cave Pokemon explained.

"Sure," said Chandelure nonchalantly.

"I believe that I'd be best suited for exploring the tunnels, since I have superior night vision," Druddigon continued. "But in order to reach the tunnels, someone has to go through the woods. Chatot, Jolteon, you're my prime candidates for this."

"I'll do it," Chatot offered. "I'd rathah take the woods than risk encounterin' whatevah othah things the hosts undoubtedly hid."

"Hang on a second, guys. Druddigon, don't you think I'd do better in the caves?" Noivern cut in. "I've got echolocation, dude. It's a must-have if you wanna explore caves and all that."

"You raise a good point, but I wanted to save you for the cliff," Druddigon explained. "Since you can simply fly from top to bottom, you'll easily be able to get through that section in no time, whereas I could not."

"Oh. Yeah, that's fair," Noivern agreed.

"So what about the three of us?" Mawile asked, gesturing to Jolteon, Dusclops, and herself.

"Dusclops should obviously run the lake," Druddigon said. "Being the only one on our team able to breathe underwater, he'd naturally be the best pick."

"The hosts did say that we could just run around the lake, though," Dusclops pointed out. "So technically we don't have to go through it."

"That sounds too easy," Chandelure interjected. "If they're allowing us to go around the lake, it's probably because they've filled it with traps. You're better off taking your chances in the water."

"If you say so," said Dusclops uncertainly. He wasn't convinced that going directly through the lake would be easier, but he didn't want to argue the point in front of his team.

"And that leaves you two," Druddigon said to Mawile and Jolteon. "I don't think it matters which of you takes which of the last two legs of the race, so I'll let you both decide."

"Um...I don't really care which one I do," Jolteon said, turning to Mawile.

Mawile took a moment to ponder her options before speaking. "I'll take the part after Dusclops," she decided. "And then you can finish the race for us, Jolteon."

"Good. We've got everything decided, then," Druddigon said confidently. He looked around at each of his fellow Milotics. "Let's make this challenge count, everyone. I don't want this team to lose any more members."

"Heck yeah, man! Let's win this!" Noivern shouted. Several members of the Gastrodons looked over at her strangely, but the Milotics were beginning to regain the confidence that they could win the upper hand once again.

 **-static-**

" **After the idol fiasco, team morale seemed to be falling to an all-time low," Druddigon grunted. "As de facto leader of the team, it's my job to prevent that from happening."**

 **His expression turned grim. "Nonetheless, if we lose our fourth challenge in a row, I'm not sure there's anything I can do to keep it from happening any longer."**

 **-static-**

"So...do we have a plan?" asked Reuniclus after a long silence. No one from the Gastrodons had offered up any ideas of how to distribute teammates to different parts of the race.

"No, evidently we do not," said Mienshao, her frustration evident in her voice. "If we _did,_ someone would have said something by now."

"Mienshao," Lopunny said sternly. Mienshao fixed her with a glare. "Take it easy. We're going to come up with a plan right now."

"Dibs on the lake!" Clauncher blurted out.

"Aw, man. I was going to do that," Vaporeon muttered sadly.

"Better luck next time," Clauncher chuckled. Vaporeon frowned and looked at Lopunny expectantly.

"To be fair, I think Clauncher is the best choice for an underwater setting," Lopunny said. Vaporeon raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Not that you're a bad choice for it, Vaporeon, but you'd also be capable of doing well on land, while Clauncher may not be able to."

"Hey!" Clauncher protested. "I could too!"

"Really? Then you want to let me take the lake so you can prove her wrong?" Vaporeon asked, nudging Clauncher in the side.

"No," said Clauncher stubbornly.

Vaporeon snickered at him. "Is it because you're afraid my performance would blow you out of the water?"

Vaporeon's teammates stared at her with blank expressions. "Sheesh, tough crowd," Vaporeon said, staring down at her paws.

Lopunny cleared her throat to draw her teammates' attention back to herself. "I think Clauncher should do the lake. He's not as well suited to racing on land as Vaporeon, but his water game is pretty good. Vaporeon, do you have any other preferences for which section you'd like?" she asked her friend.

"Whatever's after the lake, I guess," Vaporeon said with a shrug.

"That would be the stretch of the race that passes through camp," Lopunny recalled. "I think you'd do fine there. Now before we go any further, I think we should figure out who we're starting the race with."

"Not me, please," Combusken mumbled quietly.

Lopunny gave him a strange look and then shrugged. "Okay. Not Combusken," she said. "Who wants to go first?"

No one volunteered. Finally, Reuniclus broke the silence with a defeated sigh. "I'll do it," he volunteered reluctantly. "Might as well get my embarrassment over with early."

Lopunny smiled at him. "Try not to think of it like that, Reuniclus. You might surprise yourself with how well you can do with the right mindset."

Reuniclus was caught off-guard by Lopunny's kind words. "Oh. Uh, thanks," he said, hoping he didn't seem too flustered. "I'll try my best."

Mienshao rolled her eyes at Reuniclus's reaction. "I'll go after him," she told Lopunny. "The woods shouldn't be too tricky for me to traverse."

"Ordinarily, no. But keep in mind the hosts have probably hidden traps just about everywhere," Lopunny warned Mienshao.

"No need to remind me. I've been on the island as long as you have," Mienshao said, crossing her arms. Lopunny frowned at the weasel and turned to the rest of her team.

"We'll need somebody to go through the tunnels next," Lopunny stated. "And Jirachi warned us that it might be the most difficult leg of the race, so we shouldn't send someone in unprepared."

"I'll do it," Seviper volunteered casually.

Lopunny was surprised by Seviper's offer. "Are you sure?" Lopunny asked hesitantly. "I'm not doubting your ability, but…"

"If you don't doubt my ability, there ssshouldn't be a problem," Seviper countered. "I can handle myssself."

Lopunny smirked at Seviper. "Okay," she said. "Now we're talking. I'll go after Seviper; the mountains shouldn't be anything I can't handle."

"Yeah, you did have one of the best times on our team during the mountain climb," Vaporeon added. "So I think you're a good fit there."

Lopunny felt her face flush slightly at Vaporeon's praise. "U-um, anyways...how about Beedrill for the next part?"

"Me? Why?" asked Beedrill, pointing at himself with his needles.

"You can fly. Even if you're not comfortable with it yet, you'd still have an advantage in reaching the top of the cliff that no one else on this team has," Lopunny reminded him.

Beedrill didn't look reassured by her answer, but he nodded in agreement. "Okay," he agreed hesitantly. "But don't get your hopes up. I'm still not that great at flying."

"Just don't screw us over," Mienshao said harshly. Beedrill cast a glare her way.

Lopunny cleared her throat to draw attention away from Mienshao. "Okay, that leaves Lilligant and Combusken," she said. "Do either of you have a preference for when you want to go?"

Lilligant and Combusken exchanged a glance. "One of us has to go down the cliff, right?" Lilligant spoke up. "Combusken didn't want to do that in the first challenge, so maybe I should handle that part."

"Yeah, you're probably right," muttered Combusken dejectedly.

"Okay, so if Lilligant takes the cliff, that means you have to finish the race, Combusken," Lopunny informed him.

Combusken instantly froze, his face expressing terror. "Wait, wh-what?" he sputtered. "I can't do that! That's too much pressure!"

"Relax, buddy, you'll be fine," Clauncher said reassuringly. "Remember how you punched Druddigon in the face just this week?"

"Er...yes?" Combusken said, giving Clauncher a weird look.

"Finishing a race shouldn't be nearly as scary as that," Clauncher said with a grin. "So let's get out there and show them that the Gastrodons aren't taking another loss!"

"That's the spirit," said Lopunny with a smile. "Come on, everyone, let's get ready."

 **-static-**

" **Clauncher's a good friend," Combusken said quietly. "I probably don't deserve to have friends like him."**

 **The Fire-type fowl drifted into a melancholy silence. "B-but I'm glad that I do!" he added hastily. "I wouldn't trade the friends that I've made here for anything!"**

 **-static-**

"Okay, seems like both teams have finally wrapped up their preparations," said Jirachi, clasping his hands together. "Swell! Are you all ready to begin?"

"Of course we are! We're ALWAYS ready!" Noivern shouted vigorously. Castform shook her head from a distance.

"I like your spirit! Let's jump right in," Jirachi said with a smile the campers had learned to dread. "I'll teleport each pair of campers to the location they'll be starting in, and we'll get things underway!"

"Hurry it up already," Chandelure scowled. Jirachi rolled his eyes and warped all of the contestants except Chandelure, Jolteon, Combusken, and Reuniclus away.

"Hey, why didn't we get teleported?" Jolteon asked, staring at the host with a look of pure confusion.

"Did you or did you not volunteer to participate in a leg of the race that begins on the beach?" Jirachi asked, folding his arms.

Jolteon glanced at the sand around him and at the gentle rolling waves before looking back to the host. "Oh yeah," Jolteon remembered.

Jirachi sighed in exasperation. "Okay, now that Jolteon's on the same page as everyone else, are you two ready to begin?" he asked Chandelure and Reuniclus.

"I guess so," said Reuniclus with a shrug. Chandelure nodded silently beside him.

Diancie floated in front of them and drew a line in the sand. "This is the starting line," she announced. "You two stand right here, and when I give the call, the race begins."

Jirachi abruptly tossed a backpack at Chandelure and Reuniclus each. "Those are your bags," he said quickly. "Since this is a relay race, those same backpacks must make it to the end for your team to win. There are several items inside that may help you along the way, so don't hesitate to open them."

"Got it," said Reuniclus, flashing the host a thumbs-up.

Diancie pulled out a checkered flag. "On your marks!" she shouted. Chandelure and Reuniclus drifted up to the starting line as Combusken and Jolteon watched from a short distance away. "Get set! GO!"

Chandelure and Reuniclus both began immediately floating across the beach, making their way towards the woods as quickly as possible. Jirachi rubbed his hands together eagerly and elicited a devious chuckle.

"And so it begins," the host giggled with an excited smile. Diancie rolled her eyes at him and ventured off towards the cafeteria.

 **-static-**

"Are you ready to lose?" Reuniclus taunted Chandelure as the two of them raced towards the woods.

Her response was a Shadow Ball launched in Reuniclus's general direction. The Psychic-type yelped and unintentionally slowed down to avoid being hit. "Sheesh, somebody's crabby," Reuniclus observed.

With that simple turn of events, Chandelure had taken the lead. So far, neither contestant had found any traps in the beach, and as such, both were moving along rather recklessly, hoping to simply reach the next runners in as little time as possible. At the edge of the woods, Chatot and Mienshao were waiting for their teammates.

Reuniclus realized that he wouldn't be able to catch up with Chandelure unless he made another move, so he lunged forward and tried to hold Chandelure in place with his telekinetic power. Chandelure realized what he was doing and struggled to break free.

"That's a dirty move," she spat at Reuniclus as he bypassed her. Reuniclus couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction as he watched the snarky bookworm flail around vainly; it was no secret that Chandelure wasn't popular among the campers, even on the other team.

But his victory was short-lived. Chandelure flung an array of Shadow Balls at Reuniclus, and he was pummeled from behind as he tried to forge on ahead of her. His hold on Chandelure was broken as his concentration wavered, and she flew ahead of him again in an instant.

Reuniclus groaned and let his head fall in the sand. So close.

 **-static-**

"This is boring," Jirachi complained as he ate popcorn beside Diancie. The two of them were monitoring the campers' progress remotely as usual, but the host's peppy flair had subsided almost instantly once the race began.

"Well, it's too late to change anything," Diancie reminded him. "The challenge already started, so it's too late to make changes."

"I'm so glad you said that, Diancie, because now I get to prove you wrong!" Jirachi said gleefully, his excitement bubbling to the surface again. Diancie began to regret saying anything as Jirachi whipped out a remote control with a small number of buttons, all of them red.

"Do you see these red buttons?" Jirachi asked Diancie enthusiastically, showing her the buttons.

"Yes, Jirachi, I see the buttons," Diancie sighed.

Jirachi giggled with glee. "Great! I even made them all red, that way I get to push the red button every single time!" he noted. "But more importantly, what is the purpose of the buttons, you may ask?"

He leaned over to Diancie. "You're supposed to ask," he whispered.

"What's the purpose of the buttons?" Diancie asked hesitantly, looking to Jirachi for an answer.

"To activate the traps remotely!" Jirachi exclaimed. "Watch and learn, Diancie!"

"Oh, my," Diancie breathed as she watched numerous pillars of sand erupting on her screen. Jirachi cackled like a madman and started rapidly mashing one button in particular.

 **-static-**

On the beach, the campers were not having nearly as much fun as Jirachi. The leftover mines buried deep in the sand were beginning to activate. Reuniclus's eyes shot open as a mine went off several feet away from him, showering him in sand. He coughed and rubbed his eyes to remove the sand before glancing behind himself.

Mines were going off left and right, the explosions drawing closer and closer to his current location. Reuniclus let out a panicked shout and took off in the other direction, making a mad dash for the woods in one last effort to avoid being caught in an explosion.

Fortunately for the Milotics, Chandelure was hardly affected by the explosions. She was close enough to the woods that the distant explosions were unable to impede her progress, and she reached Chatot soon after the mines began going off.

"Looks like the hosts aren't lettin' those mines go ta waste," Chatot murmured.

"Just take the bag," Chandelure gasped, slinging the backpack off of herself and onto the ground in front of Chatot. The bird tipped his hat to Chandelure kindly and picked up the bag before flying off deeper into the woods.

Chandelure allowed herself to rest up against the trunk of a tree to regain some of her energy. "What?" she snapped, noticing after a while that Mienshao was watching her.

Mienshao pointed to the tree with one arm, and Chandelure glanced up to see smoke rising from a low-hanging branch that had caught fire.

"This is really not my day," Chandelure groaned.

 **-static-**

Reuniclus dodged backwards as a mine went off in front of him. His eyes were wide with fright, and the fact that he was in a race seemed to have slipped his mind—he was more concerned with not being blown up by the mines.

He was brought back to reality by an annoyed Mienshao calling to him from the forest. "Come on, Reuniclus, the Milotics have a lead on us!" she shouted fiercely. "We're not about to become the losing team again, so get a move on!"

Reuniclus drew from whatever courage he had within him and made a beeline for the forest, disregarding the explosions going off around him. Unfortunately, this carelessness led to him being caught in the midst of one, sending him soaring high in the air before plummeting back to the ground and landing with a muffled thud.

"Reuniclus!" Mienshao shouted, not really out of concern for him but rather out of concern for her team's position. "Get up!"

The sand-covered Reuniclus muttered something into the sand and removed his backpack. He tossed it at Mienshao with one arm, and it landed several yards away from her on the beach.

"Close enough," she muttered, running over to get it. She slipped the backpack on and sprinted into the woods past Chandelure, who was now watching Basculin and Sharpedo douse the fire after they had quickly arrived on the scene. Mienshao pried apart a tangled mass of branches that was obstructing her path and dashed off after Chatot, hoping the race wasn't lost yet.

 **-static-**

Chatot had taken the easy route through his leg of the race and was currently flying just above the treetops. He was almost certain the hosts would find a way to make his life difficult somehow, but so far it had been smooth sailing.

Chatot's worries were answered when he was suddenly clobbered from behind by a stealthy assailant. He dropped through the air until he was able to recover and maintain his altitude, but his hat had fallen off and was now dangling from a thin branch below. He whirled around to see Noctowl cackling at him meanly.

"You didn't think I was gonna let you win again after our last fight, did ya?" Noctowl asked. "It's time for a rematch, Tweets!"

"First of all, don't call me 'Tweets,'" Chatot reprimanded her. "Second of all, ya made a big mistake."

"Oh yeah? Sounds to me like you're trying to be all big and scary," Noctowl cackled. "BRING IT, BIRD BOY! I can take you!"

Chatot braced himself as Noctowl swooped in for another attack. This time, her wings took on a metallic sheen, and she smacked him forcefully with a Steel Wing, sending him tumbling back a few feet. But he had been prepared, and as soon as she came in for another attack, he slashed out at her right wing with his talons.

Noctowl let out a pained squawk and fluttered weakly away. "What, not gonna use any of your moves?" Noctowl taunted, trying to get him worked up. "Are you scared you'll tire out and then get defeated by me?"

Chatot sighed and stared her down. "Is this really necessary?" he asked calmly. "I thought our fight on the mountain woulda given ya a clue that I ain't really afraid of ya."

Noctowl was caught off guard by the fact that he had seen through her false demeanor of confidence, but she wasn't about to let him off the hook that easily. "WELL, YOU SHOULD BE!" she shrieked madly, swooping in on him while laughing madly. "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN HALF OF MY TRUE POWER!"

Chatot copied her Brave Bird technique and met her head-on, crashing into her in midair and sending them both sprawling downward into the trees. Noctowl let out a grunt as she was caught in a mess of branches, and Chatot glided down to a different tree and picked up his hat.

"Next time, don't mess with the hat," Chatot tipped her off, fluttering back into the air as he put his hat back on. "And ya could use some work disguisin' your moves, too—after your initial attack, I saw all of 'em comin' from a mile away."

"Shut up!" Noctowl screamed in frustration. She tried to untangle herself from the tree to attack Chatot, though this only resulted in her becoming more tightly ensnared by the tree. "I'm not done with you yet! GET BACK HERE!"

Chatot tried to drown out her frantic shouts as he flew on ahead. If that was one of the hosts' traps, it had certainly succeeded in making him lose time.

 **-static-**

Mienshao had not encountered any obstacles yet besides the ones that nature had provided, and she was not about to be stopped by some slightly inconvenient roots or bushes. She worked her way through the woods methodically, taking note of noticeable markings in trees or otherwise interesting landmarks so she could make her way forward again if she looped back by accident.

However, Mienshao was not about to make it out of the forest unscathed. A rustling in the bushes alerted Mienshao of another presence nearby, and she tensed up, ready for a sudden confrontation.

Out of the shadows stepped the unsettling figure of Trevenant, the island's resident sentient tree spirit. Mienshao's eyes narrowed; she had become aware of the existence of the forest dwellers through rumors that circulated around camp, but this was her first real encounter with one of them face-to-face.

"You look a little scared," Trevenant rumbled. He walked forward slowly, dragging one of his branch-like arms against the forest floor, creating a rather unpleasant scraping sound. "What are you doing all the way out here in the woods?"

"Trying to win a race," said Mienshao stiffly. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd let me pass."

Trevenant chuckled. "But you know that I won't."

Mienshao gave him a cold stare. "Have it your way," she said, reaching into her backpack with one arm and pulling out a torch.

Trevenant's eyes widened once he saw the torch. "What are you doing with that?" he asked, his voice trembling a bit.

"Take a wild guess," said Mienshao threateningly. As soon as she lit the torch, Trevenant began backing up nervously. Mienshao grinned and advanced on him, forcing him to scuttle backwards quickly.

The Elder Tree Pokemon laughed nervously. "Hey, listen, we can work this out, right?" he pleaded. Mienshao stared at him for a second before giving her answer.

"No," she said with a slight shake of her head, swinging her arm in an arc. The tip of the flame from the torch singed Trevenant's leafy wrist, and he leapt backwards, howling in pain. Mienshao snickered and continued deeper into the woods, leaving Trevenant behind. The Ghost-type watched her leave, rubbing his burnt wrist tenderly with one hand.

Shiftry emerged from the undergrowth, eyeing Trevenant curiously. "Didn't go too well, I take it?" he asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Let me put it this way: I'm not doing Jirachi's dirty work for free anymore," Trevenant grunted.

Shiftry shrugged indifferently. "Fair enough," he said. "Come on, let's go find Noctowl. I get the feeling she landed herself in some trouble."

 **-static-**

Chatot landed in front of the tunnels, where Druddigon and Seviper were already waiting for him. The two of them seemed to have been chatting on a pair of rocks, but they stopped as Druddigon noticed Chatot descending.

"I see you made it in one piece," Druddigon rumbled in his deep voice, accepting the backpack from Chatot as the bird took it off.

"Yeah, but I didn't expect what they had in store fah me at all," Chatot admitted. "Try not ta get yahself lost in the tunnels."

"It would be exceptionally difficult to get lost, considering all of the wrong tunnels are marked," Druddigon commented sarcastically.

Chatot groaned and pointed to the tunnels with one wing. "Just shut up and go inta the tunnels already."

Druddigon spun around without another word and marched into the tunnels. Seviper and Chatot remained alone in awkward silence, not sure what to discuss with each other, if anything at all.

Fortunately for both of them, Mienshao was swift in her arrival. She was less than a minute behind Chatot, and she tossed her backpack at Seviper as soon as she arrived.

"Get going," Mienshao said, panting to regain her breath. "We're still not in the lead."

"Well, hello to you, too," Seviper said, rolling her eyes. She coiled the bag in her tail as best as she could and took the lit torch from Mienshao before venturing into the dark depths of the tunnels on her own.

Mienshao collapsed onto a rock in exhaustion once Seviper was out of sight and let out a deep sigh. Chatot watched her with an amused expression.

 **-static-**

" **Our team is much more well-equipped than theirs fah a challenge like this one," Chatot remarked. "We've got fliers, and...uh…"**

 **He paused for a moment. "Well, we've got fliers, and that's really all ya need," he concluded. "It's no wondah why they were strugglin' against us at first."**

 **-static-**

" **Okay, let's just get this straight. It's not** _ **my**_ **fault we were losing at first. Reuniclus got us off to a bad start," Mienshao said defensively, her arms crossed. "He's a weak link! There's more than one reason I've been targeting him."**

 **Mienshao's brow furrowed in aggravation. "Then again, there are others I need to get out if I want to go far," she murmured thoughtfully. "Seviper, Lilligant, Beedrill...the list keeps making itself longer."**

 **Mienshao gave the camera a look of defiance. "But I'm still not out yet, and that's all that I need to win."**

 **-static-**

Druddigon wasn't familiar enough with the caves to move any faster than he was, for fear of getting sidetracked, but he was able to manage a brisk pace through the tunnels, cementing his lead on Seviper further. His loud footsteps created echoes in the tunnels, allowing Seviper to keep track of just how far ahead he was. The two of them followed the same path through the tunnels, avoiding any branching paths that were marked by a red X.

Seviper could hear her own quiet breathing in the tunnels. She held the torch in her mouth to light the path ahead of her—while this was by no means comfortable, it was the only practical way to go about carrying the torch since the majority of her tail was occupied with the backpack and its other contents. The light from the torch extended along the walls a fair distance, giving her a wide circle of visible terrain.

Druddigon rummaged through his own pack, hoping to find a light source—he had ventured to the point where even his relatively superior night vision was not enough to see. Finding the torch after a brief search, he lit it, only to find himself in a tunnel that he did not recognize.

The Cave Pokemon swore loudly and began retracing his steps backwards. He should have looked for the torch sooner.

 **-static-**

Meanwhile, Seviper seemed to be having significantly better luck than Druddigon. She had ignored all of the marked paths and had finally found the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Thisss seemsss too easssy," she said suspiciously, halting in her tracks as she approached the last stretch of tunnel. "There'sss got to be a trap hidden here sssomewhere."

Seviper began actively searching for any signs of tripwires or buried mines, but after about a minute spent looking, she came out empty-handed. Deciding to take this as a good sign, Seviper proceeded forward hesitantly.

As soon as she began to move, the ground beneath her began to tremble violently. Seviper immediately backed up, and the ground that she had just slithered on crumbled downwards, creating a massive pit in the middle of the tunnel.

"Of courssse they'd have a pitfall," Seviper groaned. "Well, time to look around sssome more. There'sss got to be another way out."

 **-static-**

Druddigon had made considerable progress despite his earlier mistake, and was now on track to catching up with Seviper. He waved the torch in front of him, casting its soft orange glow across the narrow tunnel walls. There weren't any traps in sight, so he walked forward—nonetheless, his instincts told him to remain on guard.

The Dragon-type squinted as he turned a corner and saw the white glowing light at the end of the tunnel. He was about to sprint towards the exit until he noticed the massive pitfall blocking his path.

"Damn it," he muttered, his frustration building. "I shouldn't be surprised that I'd have another setback when I'm this close. But I've also come too far to turn back—calculating an alternate route out of here would probably waste even more time."

Druddigon stepped closer to the edge of the pitfall and eyed it warily. It wasn't an exceptionally deep pitfall; he assumed that he could probably climb his way out in a worst case scenario. Druddigon took a deep breath and a few steps back, focusing on the other side of the pitfall trap.

After another few deep breaths, Druddigon charged forward and jumped as far as he could in an attempt to make it over the pit. He slammed into the far side of the pit, knocking the wind out of himself, but he dug his claws into the side of the pit before he could fall in. Druddigon let out several grunts as he pulled himself out of the pit and onto the other side. He exhaled loudly and picked himself up; there was no time to waste.

Druddigon marched toward the light, determined to claim a victory over the Gastrodons and secure himself a higher spot in the competition.

 **-static-**

" **I'm aware of the fact that these teams won't last indefinitely," Druddigon stated. "So while I'd like for my team to keep all of its players, my top priority is still obviously getting myself to the top. If my team loses, it's not the end for me. I won't let that happen."**

 **-static-**

Just outside the tunnels, Castform and Lopunny were awaiting the third runners. Druddigon jogged over to Castform and passed her his team's bag.

"Hey, we're still in the lead! Would you look at that?" Castform chuckled, looking at Lopunny. "You ready to lose, Lopunny?"

"It's too early to call the game now," Lopunny said, though it was apparent to both Castform and Druddigon from her tone that she didn't really believe that.

"Fair enough! Good luck, I guess," said Castform. She floated away from the other two and started easily ascending the mountainside, not needing any limbs to excel at this part of the challenge.

As she floated along, Castform's exterior began transforming itself due to the snowy weather. Her head became purple in color, and she was engulfed in a wispy, transparent cloud.

"Man, I love being able to do that," Castform said with a grin.

 **-static-**

Seviper was trying to stay calm while she looked for another exit. There was no way she'd be able to cross the pitfall trap, so she had opted to look for a different way out. Fortunately for her, an opportunity presented itself rather quickly.

Seviper reached a split hallway; one path led into a darker corridor and the other path led outside. Seviper almost thought she saw something glimmering in the darkness of the first corridor, but there was no time to investigate. She slithered outside and reoriented herself according to her new location.

She had made her way outside, but she was further from the base of the mountain than she wanted. She had found herself atop the rocky cavern; the tunnel she had taken outside had led her upward more than she needed to go. Seviper carefully made her way down the exterior of the tunnels, approaching Lopunny's location at a reasonable pace.

Lopunny saw Seviper approaching several minutes after Castform had taken off. "Come on, Seviper!" Lopunny shouted encouragingly. "We can still do this, but they're ahead of us!"

Seviper finally reached Lopunny, out of breath. "Sssorry for the delay. Jirachi wasssn't kidding about the cavesss being difficult," she apologized. Lopunny didn't seem to pay Seviper's apology much heed, however, as she had already taken the bag and was running off.

The mountain's surface was steep, but not insurmountable; Lopunny struggled to find footholds the higher she went, but she managed to scale the mountain at an impressive rate for someone who couldn't simply float over it like Castform.

Speaking of Castform, the Weather Pokemon was having no issues whatsoever with the mountain. She glanced down briefly to see Lopunny far behind her, and knowing that Lopunny wasn't going to catch up anytime soon, decided to rain some hail down on Lopunny.

Lopunny glanced up in time to see Castform attempting to impede her progress, and she scooted to the right and continued climbing just out of range of Castform's hailstorm. Castform stuck out her tongue playfully at Lopunny and flew higher up the mountain until she spotted Cryogonal and Beedrill out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, Cryogonal!" Castform greeted her teammate. "I've got the bag and everything! Guess what? We're still winning!"

"I pieced that much together myself," Cryogonal said. "But thanks, anyway."

Cryogonal's gaze shifted over to Beedrill, who was shivering violently in the intensely cold climate. His team had chosen him for this segment of the race because of his flying ability, but he was not at all suited to waiting in the cold.

"And, uh, while I'm gone, keep an eye on Beedrill to make sure he doesn't freeze to death," Cryogonal mentioned. "He's been up here for way longer than the average bug should."

"What d-did I do to d-deserve th-this?" Beedrill stuttered, shuddering after each word. Castform watched him sympathetically as Cryogonal went on ahead to complete his leg of the race.

 **-static-**

" **C-cold weather and I d-don't agree with each other," said Beedrill, who was now wrapped in a warm blanket. "I'm n-never letting my team t-talk me into that again."**

 **-static-**

Cryogonal flew across the island, observing everything below as he passed from the mountain to the cliff. The camp looked incredibly small from this high; Cryogonal was able to see the entirety of camp all at once from his current altitude.

His eyes slowly shifted to the towering cliff that grew closer and closer as he drifted along. Noivern should be waiting for him there, along with one of the Gastrodons. So far, the Milotics had held the lead, and he couldn't imagine a way that they could screw up badly enough for the Gastrodons to recover.

As Cryogonal's mind wandered, Lopunny slowly ascended the cliff. She continued along until she saw the green flags that indicated the end of her run, at which point she began moving faster.

Beedrill was filled with relief the moment he saw Lopunny appear before him. "Whew. That was a tough climb," Lopunny admitted. She tossed the Gastrodons' backpack at Beedrill, who was unable to catch it in his shivering needles. The bag hit the ground, and Beedrill stared at it emptily for several seconds before trying to pick it up.

"I'd b-better get going," Beedrill said weakly, glad to finally have a reason to escape the icy mountaintop. He took off into the air, but in his weakened state, he quickly crumpled back to the ground. Lopunny stared at him in surprise and concern; she hadn't realized that the mountain's inhospitable climate would cripple Beedrill so much.

Feeling partially guilty for her hand in persuading Beedrill to wait on the mountain, Lopunny walked over and helped the bug up. She assisted Beedrill in securing the backpack in a way that wouldn't impact his flight too heavily.

"That should help," she told him. Beedrill nodded numbly. "Look, Beedrill. The sooner you're able to make it to the cliff, the sooner you'll be out of the cold. We're not out of the race yet, but we need you to get going now."

"Y-yeah, of course," Beedrill muttered. He waved goodbye to Lopunny and Castform and shakily took flight. Lopunny let out a sigh of relief as he flew towards the cliff once more; this time, he didn't come crashing back down.

Lopunny was beginning to shiver herself. "It really _is_ cold up here," she admitted.

"I'm doing just fine," Castform said smugly. She rained snowflakes down gently on Lopunny's head, earning her a sharp look from the bunny.

 **-static-**

Noivern and Lilligant awaited the arrival of their teammates at the top of the cliff patiently. The silence between them was tense; Lilligant was hesitant to talk to Noivern after what had just gone down between the two of them, and Noivern didn't seem keen on starting any conversations either.

Finally, Lilligant broke the silence. "Look, Noivern, I'm sorry about—" she began, only to be cut off by Noivern.

"I don't want to hear your apologies," said Noivern coldly. Lilligant turned to Noivern with a hurt expression, but Noivern was making an effort of not looking at Lilligant, as if trying to pretend she wasn't there. Lilligant was taken aback by the edge to Noivern's words; clearly she had done more damage than she thought previously.

Noivern's expression became more optimistic as she saw the familiar figure of Cryogonal floating toward the cliff. She waved at him from afar, and he drifted down to meet them.

"Well, that was deceptively simple," Cryogonal said, pleasantly surprised by the lack of difficulty during his short trip. Noivern and Lilligant were standing atop the cliff, and Noivern eagerly swiped the backpack from Cryogonal as soon as he landed. "I literally didn't have to do anything besides float."

"But hey, that's good news, isn't it?" Noivern asked. "We're still winning, man! We got this!"

With that, Noivern jumped backwards off the cliff. She spread her wings as she dove downwards, unfolding them at the last opportunity to slow her descent enough to land safely.

At the bottom of the cliff, Dusclops and Clauncher were playing rock-paper-scissors against each other. Dusclops kept complaining that Clauncher was cheating, since Clauncher could just claim that his claw was making whatever shape he wanted it to be making, but the two of them were ultimately having fun.

Until Noivern landed on top of Dusclops, smashing the poor ghost into the ground. "Ow! What gives, Noivern?" Dusclops groaned, climbing out from under Noivern.

"Sorry 'bout that, dude. Misjudged my landing distance there," Noivern apologized sheepishly. She held out the Milotics' backpack to him. "Gotcha this nice bag, though."

"Oh, sweet!" Dusclops said. "We're winning!"

"Yep! Beedrill hasn't even made it to the cliff yet," Noivern said.

Clauncher glanced up at the top of the cliff nervously. What was his team doing? He hadn't seen any signs of Lilligant trying to make her way down the cliff, and it would definitely take her longer to climb down than for Noivern to simply glide down. All of this did not bode well to Clauncher, who didn't want his team's losing streak to pick up once more.

"So, uh…" Dusclops said, gazing out at the lake before him. "I can either go around the lake or through it to get from here to the other side."

"Go through the lake, man! You did it in the first challenge, and the lake's way smaller across than around!" Noivern pointed out.

"Yeah, but my movement is also way slower underwater, and I feel like I could get lost in there, too," Dusclops murmured. "You wouldn't know, but that lake is like a maze once you go in deep enough."

"Well, make up your mind soon, dude. We're in a race, remember?" Noivern reminded him.

"Yeah. See you later!" Dusclops said, giving her a thumbs-up. He began trudging around the side of the lake, much to Noivern's dismay; this route would be a lot slower for her team, but also safer. Probably.

Clauncher's voice broke through Noivern's thoughts. "Want to play rock-paper-scissors?" he offered.

"Sure!" Noivern agreed happily.

 **-static-**

Beedrill felt the weight of the backpack slowing him down as he flew along the stretch between the mountain and the cliff. His vision was becoming blurred; waiting on the mountain for so long had definitely taken a toll on him. He started veering downward unintentionally, but caught himself and corrected his course. The sooner he reached the cliff, the sooner he could rest.

Beedrill felt a renewed sense of determination once he caught sight of Cryogonal once more. Lilligant was standing at the edge of the cliff waiting for her teammate, and Beedrill sped up and angled his body downward to land faster.

"There you are," Lilligant said, relieved to see Beedrill. The bug looked as though he had seen better days; he wordlessly slung the backpack at Lilligant and collapsed on the ground. Lilligant cast a worried glance at Cryogonal.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him," Cryogonal told her.

Lilligant gave him a grateful nod. "Thanks," she said with a smile. Cryogonal returned the smile and Lilligant carefully walked over to the edge of the cliff. The fall looked daunting, but she knew she'd never catch up if she tried climbing down like she had originally planned to.

"Here goes nothing," Lilligant told herself. She took a deep breath and stepped off the cliff, performing her second cliff dive on the island. She closed her eyes and hit the water below with a loud splash. Clauncher and Noivern glanced up from their game of rock-paper-scissors in shock as Lilligant dragged herself ashore.

"Uh…" Clauncher was at a loss for words. "Hi, Lilligant."

"We're not out of the race yet," Lilligant said, panting heavily. "It's in your hands now."

Clauncher felt a grin returning to his face. "Heck yeah!" he cheered. He took the backpack from Lilligant. "You're the best, Lilligant!"

He dove into the water and swam deeper into the lake. Having been in the lake a number of times before, both in and out of challenges, its rocky depths were hardly a maze to him anymore. Plus, going through the lake this way would save him a significant amount of time; perhaps enough to outspeed Dusclops if he was lucky, he figured.

 **-static-**

Dusclops, however, was not enjoying his leisurely jog by the lake. He felt the pressure of his team weighing him down the entire time, and he was worried that he wouldn't be able to run fast enough to keep his team's lead.

As Dusclops continued along the sandy shores of the lake, he noticed the water rippling near the center of the lake. He glanced over at it as bubbles began rising to the surface. His eye narrowed in confusion as he tried to figure out what it was. Could it be a trap from the hosts?

But it was not. Clauncher burst forth from the lake, shooting forward with an Aqua Jet of unparalleled speed. Dusclops stared after him, his eye wide in shock. He hadn't expected the Gastrodons to catch up so fast; when he had left the lake, Beedrill supposedly hadn't even arrived at the cliff.

Of course, the realization that his team was now losing hit him as well. Dusclops began booking it towards the other side of the lake, not wanting to be the reason why his team lost. That would be bad.

 **-static-**

Clauncher gracefully pulled out of his Aqua Jet attack and landed next to Vaporeon. Mawile was standing with Vaporeon, but her gaze was fixed on Dusclops, watching him make his way toward their group. Her expression did not look hopeful.

Clauncher tossed the bag to Vaporeon. "Got a present for you!" he said. "It's a bag! And also, we're winning! You're welcome."

Vaporeon rolled her eyes and began sprinting away from the lake. All that was left of the race was her leg and then Combusken's—after that, they could claim another victory over the Milotics and finally lead the game.

Mawile watched Dusclops sprinting as fast as he could in her direction, her expression grim. Unfortunately, even at his fastest, Dusclops was still not a particularly agile Pokemon, and he was failing to close the gap between himself and Vaporeon.

By this point, Vaporeon had sprinted up the short path between the lake and camp and was now making her way toward the beach once more. She dashed past the cabins, accidentally startling Mr. Mime, who was picking up trash from around camp. The mime glanced up at the camera quickly and then resumed his job as if nothing had happened.

The beach was within Vaporeon's sight now; she could see Jolteon waving to her with one paw from afar. Combusken was standing awkwardly next to him, fidgeting with his claws nervously; all that was on Combusken's mind was blowing the lead and letting his team down.

Dusclops reached Mawile before Vaporeon reached Combusken, however; he threw the bag to Mawile as soon as he was close enough. "Go!" he shouted suddenly. Mawile didn't hesitate, taking off immediately in the other direction.

Mawile felt the sting of the roaring wind as she ran against it; camp wasn't far, and after that all she had to do was get to the beach. The finish line was within reach, but getting there wouldn't be easy. She put her doubts aside for the moment and ran as fast as she could.

 **-static-**

"Hey, this is actually a pretty even match now," Jirachi said contently, watching the monitor. "All the better for ratings, I suppose!"

"Does everything have to be about the ratings?" Diancie asked, giving him a curious look.

Jirachi nodded solemnly. "Yes, Diancie. This is the world we live in now. The ratings always matter," he said with a straight face.

Diancie couldn't tell if he was joking or not, so she decided to laugh anyway. Jirachi smirked and resumed viewing the monitors. "Ooh, look at that! The Gastrodons are at the last stretch!" the host said excitedly. "Get the popcorn, Diancie!"

"You get the popcorn," Diancie said defiantly, not getting up from her seat.

"This is why everyone always says you're no fun, Diancie," Jirachi complained, getting up from his own seat to grab a tub of buttered popcorn. "Because you never get the popcorn."

Diancie gave him a quizzical look. "Do people really say that?" she asked doubtfully.

Jirachi shrugged. "I dunno, maybe. What, do you think I keep up with all the current Diancie gossip?"

Diancie rolled her eyes and stole some popcorn from Jirachi's rather large tub of the snack food. Jirachi started munching on it loudly as he continued watching the challenge.

 **-static-**

As the hosts had observed during their viewing of the challenge, Vaporeon had arrived at the beach and sent Combusken on his way with the Gastrodons' bag. The chicken was running across the beach clumsily, the bag flopping around on his back. Much to Vaporeon's relief, he hadn't encountered any traps.

"So, uh...hey," Jolteon said, greeting his friend from the other team.

"Hey," Vaporeon said back, smiling at him. Jolteon felt himself blushing slightly, even though he was actively trying to stop himself from doing it.

"Your team's probably going to win, huh?" Jolteon mused, watching Combusken grow more and more distant. "You want to watch a movie after the elimination ceremony tonight?"

Vaporeon glanced up in surprise, but then felt a warm smile spreading across her face. "I'd love to," she replied. "Do you want to—"

"Jolteon, catch!"

Jolteon heard Mawile's voice coming from behind him and turned around in time to get hit in the face with the Milotics' bag, which Mawile had thrown. The Electric-type let out a pained sigh and picked up the bag, rubbing his face tenderly with one paw.

"I've got to run, I guess," Jolteon muttered to Vaporeon. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah!" Vaporeon replied eagerly. Jolteon smiled at her and then took off after Combusken. Vaporeon was stunned by how fast Jolteon could run; he was easily gaining ground on Combusken, so much that the Gastrodons' lead hardly even mattered.

Combusken glanced backwards and let out a horrified gasp. Jolteon was closing in on him rapidly, and the docks were far enough away still that Jolteon would almost definitely get there before him. It would take a miracle for him to somehow get there before Jolteon.

Combusken's miracle came in the form of a leftover mine, which blew up underneath Jolteon and sent him flying into the water. Combusken stopped to stare after what just happened, but then remembered he was in a race; he had to take advantage of every opportunity he had.

The fowl Pokemon noticed several bulges in the sand, and quickly pieced together that the hosts had also planted mines along this section of the beach as well. He nimbly dodged around the buried mines and dashed frantically for the finish line. The hosts warped themselves and all of the finished campers to the finish line to watch the end of the race.

"GO, COMBUSKEN!" Clauncher cheered his friend on. "YOU CAN DO IT! YOU'RE ALMOST THERE!"

"Pick up the pace, Jolteon! You're letting him get too far ahead!" Druddigon called to his teammate.

"He's not going to hear you. And even if he did, we're already too far behind," said Chandelure realistically. Druddigon scowled at her, but she was right; Combusken was almost upon the finish line, and Jolteon was just climbing out of the water.

"Aaaand the Great Gastrodons win!" Jirachi declared as Combusken's talon crossed the finish line at the dock. The Gastrodons started cheering wildly, some of them hugging each other or patting Combusken on the back. Mienshao notably avoided partaking in either of these activities, though she was visibly pleased by the fact that her team had won; she was unable to hide the smirk on her face from the cameras.

Jolteon finally reached the finish line a few moments later, panting lightly. Chatot pulled him aside and started walking off with him, already talking to Jolteon about elimination strategies. Druddigon watched them leave distrustfully; he still didn't care for Chatot or his alliance.

"Milotics, you know what this means," Diancie said. The members of the Milotics looked less than thrilled to hear her saying this. "You'll be eliminating another one of your own tonight. Choose wisely."

Jirachi grabbed Diancie's hand and the two of them vanished instantly. The Gastrodons walked back to their cabins to celebrate, while the Milotics stayed behind and started talking among themselves.

 **-static-**

" **Overall, I'd say today was a success," Clauncher said confidently. "My team's back on track for winning, and I got to play a big part in the challenge today! I think I'm safe for a while now. Well, hopefully at least."**

 **-static-**

" **I've...had worse days," Lilligant said. "I feel like today was a refreshing break from all the drama that's been going on lately. It was...nice to be able to have a simple challenge, even if just for one day. Kind of like it used to be."**

 **-static-**

" **Unfortunately, it seems my team lost today," Cryogonal said with a frown. "I mean, four losses in a row is a new record for either team, but it's not really a record I wanted to break."**

 **He floated over to the confessional door. "Well, I'd better figure out who to vote for. The ceremony's not far off."**

 **-static-**

Chandelure was sitting in the center of camp, reading on top of a tree stump, when she was approached by Cryogonal and a much more hesitant looking Dusclops.

"What?" Chandelure asked, wasting no time getting to the point as they stopped in front of her.

"We'd like to work with you tonight. For the elimination, I mean," Cryogonal explained to her. Dusclops was staring at the ground behind Cryogonal uncomfortably. "Who were you planning to vote out tonight?"

"That's a bold question. Do you have anything to offer in exchange for my response?" Chandelure asked, eyeing Cryogonal curiously.

"Our votes," Cryogonal said. He could tell Chandelure was interested now, as she set down her book to listen. "Dusclops is concerned that his poor performance in today's challenge may sway the others to vote for him, and he's hoping that you won't do that."

Chandelure thought it over for a moment. "You don't want me to vote for Dusclops?" she reiterated.

"Obviously I don't want you to, but more importantly I'm asking you not to," Cryogonal clarified. "In exchange, we'll vote off whoever you want tonight."

"It sounds to me like you're trying to strike up an alliance here," Chandelure said dubiously. "Which I've made clear by now I want to avoid."

"Crystal clear," Cryogonal muttered. "Believe me, I didn't get the wrong impression."

"But if you simply don't want me to vote for Dusclops, that can be arranged," Chandelure finally stated. Dusclops looked up in surprise and exchanged a relieved glance with Cryogonal. "Is that all?"

"Er, yes," Cryogonal said. He hadn't expected that interaction to go as smoothly as it did. "Who do you want us to vote for, then?"

"Don't worry about that," Chandelure said, picking up her book again. "I don't need your votes."

Cryogonal could tell something was definitely off; he was certain there was no way Chandelure would agree to the deal if she didn't get something out of it. But if she really was just being generous, he wasn't about to make her second guess her decision.

"Thank you," Cryogonal said, giving her a curt nod and floating away. Dusclops stared at Chandelure for a moment longer before following his friend.

"That went way better than I thought," Dusclops whispered to Cryogonal as soon as they were out of earshot. The two of them headed for their cabin. "How'd you do it? Some kind of magical mind sorcery?"

"Dusclops, magic isn't real," Cryogonal said, rolling his eyes. "Also, I have no idea. For all I know, she's playing at some larger game and voting you out isn't her top priority."

"Well, I'd certainly hope not," Dusclops muttered. "I mean, I think I do a pretty good job of not making enemies and stuff. At least, I don't _think_ I've made any."

"Everyone's an enemy, Dusclops. Only one Pokemon can win," Cryogonal reminded his friend. "That's the reality of it. We'll all end up trying to eliminate each other sooner or later."

"Jeez, dude, I'm just trying to make friends and stay safe," Dusclops said. "I thought that was the plan!"

"That plan won't work forever," Cryogonal reasoned. "Anyways, that's enough out of me. We need to pick an actual target for elimination tonight or else it actually could be you."

"Not helping," Dusclops said worriedly.

Cryogonal frowned. "Sorry."

 **-static-**

"All right, everyone, here's the plan," Chatot began as his alliance gathered around a stump for their meeting. They had met in the woods, as Chatot and Jolteon had picked that as their usual meeting place. Noivern and Castform still felt out of place working with them, but it was two extra votes they didn't otherwise have.

"Jolteon an' I decided that takin' out eithah Cryogonal or Dusclops is in our best interest," Chatot explained. "They've been workin' togethah since the beginnin' of the game, I'm fairly sure. So takin' out one of them weakens the only othah alliance on our team, effectively makin' us near unstoppable."

"And we figured that Dusclops would be an easier target, especially after his poor performance in the challenge," Jolteon added. "So, uh, what do you guys think?"

Chatot and Jolteon patiently awaited Noivern and Castform's response. The two female Milotics exchanged a hesitant glance before Castform spoke up.

"Is there anyone else we could vote out?" Castform asked hopefully.

"Why?" Chatot asked curiously. "This is a good choice ta take out a pretty big alliance. Well, relatively speakin', anyways."

"Dusclops is kind of our friend," Castform said, gesturing to herself and Noivern. "It's kind of like if we asked you to vote out Jolteon."

"And you wouldn't vote out Jolteon, right?" Noivern added, hoping her question would make Chatot reconsider.

Chatot tapped his beak. "I mean, not without a good reason," he admitted. Jolteon gave his friend a weird look. "But look, this ain't about Jolteon; it's about Dusclops. Are ya in or not?"

"...No," Castform answered after a pause. Even Noivern seemed surprised at her friend's response. "We can't just go voting our friends out like that. Once the teams merge together, it's important that you have people to fall back on."

"Couldn't we just vote out Druddigon?" Noivern suggested. "You guys don't like him, right?"

"No, we don't see eye to eye," Chatot scoffed. "But the thing is, we can take him out anytime. He's a solo playah, so he's not a threat. Much as I dislike the guy, he's not a priority."

"And if we take out Dusclops, we don't have to worry about not winning team eliminations anymore," Jolteon piped up. "Our alliance would make up half of the team!"

"You guys do what you want," Castform said, getting up. "But I think I'll vote solo tonight."

The Weather Pokemon floated off, leaving Noivern alone to be subject to the stares of Chatot and Jolteon. Noivern looked back at Chatot and jerked her head at Castform. "Uh, I'm with her. You know how it is," she said awkwardly.

Chatot sighed. "Do what ya gotta do," he said dismissively. Noivern took this as her sign to leave after Castform.

Jolteon glanced at Chatot. "We can't keep splitting alliance votes like this," Jolteon told him seriously. "If they're not going to actually work with our alliance, why are we still allied with them?"

"I dunno," Chatot groaned. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, let's make the call: are we still votin' Dusclops or not?"

Jolteon pondered the question for a moment. "Whatever you think is best," the Electric-type said. "You've got this game figured out more than I do."

Chatot nodded. "Let's get movin' ta the campfire pit, then. I got a new idea."

 **-static-**

Chandelure approached Druddigon in the center of camp. Despite their location not even being remotely private, there was no one else around to listen to their discussion. Chandelure lightly knocked on the side of the cabin to catch Druddigon's attention.

"What took you so long?" Druddigon grumbled once he realized it was her. He seemed mildly annoyed that Chandelure was late to their meeting, but she ignored that.

"I was busy before. I'm not going to bend my schedule to your whims, even if we are working together," Chandelure explained lazily. Druddigon was clearly dissatisfied with her excuse, but he said nothing. "But let's get to the point—I have a suggestion for tonight's elimination."

"I was already thinking of voting out Jolteon," Druddigon interrupted. "Removing him would weaken Chatot, and he lost us today's challenge. It probably wouldn't take too much convincing to get some of our teammates to vote for him as well."

"I actually have a better idea," Chandelure said. "If you're willing to listen, of course."

Druddigon tapped his claws on his knee impatiently. "I'm listening," he said. "But this better be good."

"Oh, it will be," Chandelure said ominously. "It will be."

 **-static-**

"So what's our plan?" Mawile asked. She was meeting in secret with Cryogonal and Dusclops in the cafeteria; the only witness to their plans was Diancie, and Mawile trusted Diancie not to spill the beans about their ideas. She probably wasn't allowed to, anyway.

"We managed to convince Chandelure not to vote for Dusclops," Cryogonal said, but Mawile noticed that he didn't sound confident. "Or I hope we did, anyway. I've never trusted her, personally."

"Now is not the time for having second thoughts," Dusclops pleaded. "Chandelure has to come through or I'm screwed, man."

He appeared much more jittery than usual to Mawile; perhaps this was because he'd never been so close to being a candidate for elimination. She certainly didn't blame him; being on the chopping block was probably nerve-wracking.

"Easy, Dusclops. You're not out yet, and I'd like to keep things that way," Cryogonal said reassuringly. This seemed to comfort Dusclops, who visibly relaxed after hearing his friend say that. "But we need a plan. I've already picked a few candidates for elimination, and I want to know what you two think."

Cryogonal paused briefly before beginning. "First of all, Chandelure."

"Now hold on a moment," Dusclops said, giving Cryogonal a disapproving glare. "She agreed to work with us. You're not about to suggest that we backstab her, are you?"

"Dusclops, we can't trust her," Cryogonal said with a sigh. "And she's a liability to the team, on top of that."

"What are you trying to prove?" Dusclops asked. He seemed on the verge of anger to Mawile, who was surprised to see him like this, having never seen an angry Dusclops before. "If you vote out Chandelure, that just proves that _you're_ the one who can't be trusted!"

Cryogonal opened his mouth to argue, but found that he couldn't—Dusclops had raised a valid point. "Okay. Well, forgive me for suggesting her, then," Cryogonal said apologetically. "I was thinking purely from a strategic point of view, so I may have missed some important considerations."

Dusclops sat back in his seat, but he still wore an upset expression. "On to the next candidate, then," Cryogonal continued. "Druddigon. Unpopular, temperamental, and a potential threat once the teams disband. It might not be a bad idea to get rid of him sooner rather than later."

Neither Mawile nor Dusclops seemed to have any objections to this, but Cryogonal went on regardless. "Finally, I think it's worth considering that we eliminate either Jolteon or Chatot," Cryogonal told them. "They're a powerful duo, performing well in challenges and occupying a small niche in voting ceremonies. I think they could be a potential threat to us down the road."

"They're not that threatening yet, though," Dusclops said. "I say we go for Druddigon."

"Okay," Cryogonal said. "Mawile? What are your thoughts?"

"Oh...yeah, that's fine," Mawile agreed absentmindedly. Cryogonal and Dusclops exchanged a glance; Mawile, despite being accepted into the alliance, never really seemed to contribute much during its meetings. Cryogonal wondered if she just wasn't comfortable speaking her mind, or if she had finally figured out his hand in Scrafty's elimination.

"I suppose we're done here, then," Cryogonal concluded. "Meeting adjourned. Thank you both for coming."

Dusclops nodded and sauntered out of the cafeteria, a quiet Mawile in tow. Cryogonal watched them both go before following from a distance. Dusclops entered the male Milotics' cabin, but Cryogonal floated over and stopped Mawile before she could enter her cabin.

"Mawile, hold up," Cryogonal hissed. Mawile whirled around in surprise, but she relaxed a bit when she realized it was just Cryogonal.

"What is it?" she asked, walking back down the cabin steps to meet him.

Cryogonal sighed unhappily. "I know I said the meeting was over, but I need to talk to you without Dusclops present. We can't focus on Druddigon tonight."

"Why not?" asked Mawile, confused.

"Dusclops has become too trusting of Chandelure. I don't know why he trusts her, but if he's choosing to side with her over me this time, you can see why that's bad," Cryogonal explained. Mawile's expression darkened; now that Cryogonal was putting the situation in different terms, it seemed more pressing. "We may have swayed Chandelure in tonight's ceremony, and that's why it's vital that we take this opportunity to eliminate her. We have to take out the threat before it becomes worse."

Mawile nodded grimly. "Okay," she said finally. "And we don't let Dusclops hear of this, correct?"

"No," said Cryogonal quietly. "We do not."

 **-static-**

" **This isn't going to be a fun ceremony, no matter how it goes down," Cryogonal muttered. "Not that they usually are, but the stakes just rose a lot higher."**

 **-static-**

" **I'm curious to see how this plays out," Druddigon mused. "I don't feel like I'm in much danger after my performance in today's challenge, but that begs the question: who is it going to be?"**

 **-static-**

" **I ain't happy about what had ta be done," Chatot said. "But at this stage of the game, ya gotta start thinkin' long-term."**

 **-static-**

" **And now, we see if this works out after all," Chandelure said sinisterly. "If it does, my options have just opened up a lot more."**

 **-static-**

"Wow. There were some really interesting votes tonight, folks!" Jirachi said as he levitated in front of the campers at his little podium. "Not who I'd have expected, personally."

The nine Milotics present wore various expressions, ranging from fear to discontent and even boredom. "As you should know by now, of the nine of you present, only eight will remain by the end of the night," Jirachi announced dramatically. "Let's get right into it, shall we?"

Jirachi cleared his throat. "First of all, Chatot is safe," the host stated, tossing Chatot the first Pokeblock. Chatot swiftly removed his hat and caught the Pokeblock in it.

"Next up is Jolteon, who also garnered no votes," Jirachi said. Jolteon looked pleased to hear this, and he caught his Pokeblock happily.

Tension was building already; the remaining seven campers all seemed to have some doubt about their safety. "Castform, you're not going home tonight," Jirachi informed her. The Weather Pokemon looked relieved to hear this, though she had been one of the least worried of the bunch.

"Noivern, you're also good to go!" Jirachi called. Noivern let out an excited whoop and caught her Pokeblock eagerly, waving it at Castform when she caught it.

"Mawile, you are also safe for the time being," Jirachi continued. Mawile calmly caught her Pokeblock in one hand and flashed a look of concern at both Dusclops and Cryogonal, who were both still at risk.

Only four remained now. Dusclops was progressively getting more and more panicked than he had ever felt on the island, even when facing his fear. For the first time, there was a _reason_ for him to get out, and he didn't feel like he was safe.

Cryogonal seemed less concerned than his ghostly partner, but he too seemed at least slightly on edge. The bottom four was never a good place to be, even if you weren't the one going home.

Druddigon dragged his claws across the stump he was sitting on impatiently. He doubted that his team would try to vote him out yet, but even if they did, he wished the host wouldn't drag out the ceremony as long as possible.

Chandelure's emotions were the hardest to read of the remaining campers. She seemed calm, but she was watching everything carefully; she almost seemed to be studying Jirachi's movements, as if trying to predict whose name he would call next.

"Aaaand the next Pokeblock of ultimate safety goes to…" Jirachi drew out his sentence for no reason. "Dusclops!"

The specter looked astonished to hear his name called, but he caught the Pokeblock Jirachi tossed him with both hands. He cast a surprised look at Cryogonal before giving his friend a reassuring thumbs-up.

Jirachi was clearly eating up the tension; he smiled as Cryogonal and Druddigon both leaned forward, hoping to hear their names next. Chandelure was doing a surprisingly good job of keeping her cool and not reacting much, but that was also fairly normal for her.

"One more Pokeblock before the final two, and who's it for?" Jirachi asked rhetorically. "If you guessed Chandelure, you're correct!"

Chandelure didn't bother to catch the Pokeblock that Jirachi slung at her, letting it fall to the ground. Now it was time to see if her plan had worked.

Cryogonal and Druddigon looked at each other grimly. One of them was about to go home, but neither was ready to accept a loss.

"The last Pokeblock goes to…" Jirachi began, tossing the last Pokeblock back and forth in his hands. Druddigon clenched his fists in anticipation, and Cryogonal felt an overwhelming sense of dread building.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Druddigon," Jirachi finished, tossing the Dragon-type his Pokeblock. Cryogonal sighed in defeat as Druddigon snatched his Pokeblock out of the air. Druddigon didn't look pleased that Cryogonal had been chosen to leave, but he was glad that his team had opted to keep him in.

"Guess it's the end of the line for me, huh?" Cryogonal muttered. "Well, this sucks."

Druddigon stuck out a hand to Cryogonal politely. "I hope there aren't any hard feelings," Druddigon rumbled. "It was nice to have you on my team."

Cryogonal frowned at Druddigon. "Thank you, but I don't have hands."

"Ah," Druddigon said, shaking his head at his own error. "That is true."

Dusclops ran over to Cryogonal. "Dude, this sucks!" Dusclops groaned. "Why did it have to be you? I thought everything was good once I was safe, but…"

"This isn't your fault. It's how the game works," said Cryogonal, consoling his friend. "Believe me, I'd already considered the possibility of my own elimination a long time ago."

"Still. I mean, I'm gonna miss you," Dusclops said sadly. "Sorry things had to end this way."

Cryogonal allowed Dusclops to pull him into a quick embrace. "Well, I'd best get my confessional out of the way," Cryogonal told Dusclops. "Good luck, Dusclops. Try not to end up like me anytime soon."

Dusclops chuckled. "Me? I'm nowhere near as smart as you," he said jokingly. Cryogonal cracked a smile. "Hey, there's a smile! Take care, man."

 **-static-**

 **Cryogonal was still smiling as he entered the confessional. "My time here wasn't so bad," Cryogonal admitted. "I've got some fond memories of the island and the friends I made. Sure, I didn't make that** _ **many**_ **friends, but the ones I have I consider close—that's all I can ask for, really."**

 **Cryogonal looked into the camera. "And while I might not get a million dollars, I get to see Boldore again," he said with a smirk. "Cheesy as it may seem, that's good enough for me."**

 **-static-**

Cryogonal's entire team came to the docks to see him off. Mawile and Dusclops were the most sad to see him go; despite the few times they had really talked, Mawile did consider Cryogonal a friend. Chatot tipped his hat to Cryogonal as a farewell, and Noivern, Castform, and Jolteon all looked disappointed to see him go. Cryogonal loaded up his luggage on the Lapras awaiting him at the docks and turned around to say his final goodbyes.

"Goodbye, everyone," Cryogonal said. "Thanks for keeping me around this long, I guess. I wish you guys the best."

"See ya," said Noivern, waving to him from the dock. "I didn't vote for you, by the way! I think you're cool, no pun intended!"

Cryogonal chuckled, and his Lapras began pulling away from the dock. "Oh. I guess I'm leaving already," he realized. "Bye, everybody!"

"Bye, Cryogonal!" Castform called. Cryogonal wanted to wave goodbye to the crowd that was seeing him off, but he didn't have limbs, so that didn't happen.

Mawile turned to Dusclops as Cryogonal drifted further out to sea. "I guess it's just the two of us now," she said, quietly enough that nobody else could hear. "We'll figure out a way to make this work."

"Yeah," Dusclops muttered, but he looked hopelessly disheartened. Mawile wanted to say something to cheer him up, but she couldn't think of anything appropriate, so she just gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder. The other Milotics began returning to their cabins, walking past Mawile and Dusclops.

 **-static-**

" **I, uh, voted Cryogonal tonight," Chatot admitted. "Not that I wanted to, believe me. I have nothin' against the guy, but…"**

 **Chatot sighed. "Well, Noivahn and Castform didn't want me ta vote out Dusclops, an' I figured the best play was ta eliminate SOMEONE from that alliance. It honestly wasn't personal."**

 **Chatot tipped his hat to the camera. "If Cryogonal happens ta see this later, well, I guess I'm sorry."**

 **-static-**

 **Chandelure floated in the confessional, giving the camera a deadpan stare. "My plan worked after all. I wasn't certain that it would, but it seems there were just enough votes to boot Cryogonal off of the show. Now that he's gone, I have another obstacle out of my way."**

 **She chuckled darkly to herself. "Because Cryogonal is gone, I should be able to avoid any further opposition for the time being. I can go undetected for as long as I need until I decide to make my next move."**

 **Chandelure's emotionless gaze bore into the camera. "And who knows when that will be?"**

 **-static-**

Vaporeon caught Jolteon making his way back from the campfire pit. "Whew! Looks like you didn't get eliminated after all," she said teasingly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm still here," he said with a light chuckle. "So...it's not too late to go catch that movie, right?"

Vaporeon grinned at Jolteon. "Only one way to find out. Come on!" she said, playfully tugging at his leg with her tail. The two of them ran off towards the rec room as the rest of the Gastrodons continued partying in the cabins.

 **-static-**

Inside the cabins, the Gastrodons were celebrating with snacks and drinks that Combusken had smuggled from the cafeteria. Beedrill was sitting on a bed, wrapped comfortably in a blanket that Reuniclus had generously fetched for him. The bug was doing much better than before, but he still looked a bit lifeless in contrast to his usual appearance.

Clauncher walked over to Combusken, who was taking a sip from the cup of punch in his claws. "Hey, you did it! You won the challenge for us!" Clauncher congratulated his friend. "You know, that technically makes you the reason this team is winning right now!"

"I-I wouldn't go that far," Combusken said. "That's kind of an exaggeration…I mean, I didn't do that much."

"Well, you did your part. We all did today," Clauncher said with a smile. "And for once, we finally get to know what it feels like to be the winning team! How about that?" He slapped Combusken on the back with one claw.

Unfortunately, this caused Combusken to choke on the punch he was drinking, and the fowl coughed violently. "Ow," Combusken said hoarsely. "Please don't do that."

"Yeah, sorry," Clauncher apologized sheepishly. He held up his own cup of punch. "To victory."

Combusken smiled weakly and held up his own cup. "T-to victory."

* * *

And that's a wrap! This moment officially marks the halfway point in our story. It's taken a long time to get here, and it'll probably be a long time yet to reach the end, but thank you so much if you've stuck around for this long.

I don't have much to say about this elimination (other than I'm going to miss Cryogonal a lot), so I'll just throw in a fun fact about him: during the early planning stages of this story, Cryogonal went through the most placement changes of any contestant. I had so much trouble deciding when to get him out that his placement actually ranged anywhere from twenty-fourth to third.

Some things happened this chapter. Mines blew up. Alliance shenanigans happened on the Milotics' team. The mysterious Conkeldurr has made an appearance. What could it mean?

Oh yeah, and the Gastrodons are finally winning, because they've literally been tied or losing for the entire story up until now. Hurray for them.

I guess that's all for now. If you want to show some support, please review! Seeing new reviews makes my day, and I don't get enough of them.

Zoroark will return in season two.

Cryogonal: Being an Ice-type is cool, but not as cool as leaving a review. Don't forget to do that.


	17. Boot Camp Blues

Hi! I'm super sorry for how long this took, but between final exams, surgery, and just about everything in between, it's been a busy few months! Hopefully I didn't fail to deliver with this chapter, so here you go.

* * *

It was a quiet morning on the island for Chatot, something he scarcely experienced but enjoyed a great deal. Jolteon, Druddigon, and Dusclops were all off doing other things, so Chatot had the whole cabin to himself.

The bird slipped his wing under his mattress and pulled out something he had tucked down there what felt like ages ago. He withdrew his wing and glanced at the small golden ticket in his grasp. He hadn't forgotten about it, but it was tricky to figure out when he should use it, since he could only use it once to save someone else.

As Chatot began to think of which of his teammates he might use it on, his mind wandered to Noivern and Castform, the newest additions to his alliance. He wasn't certain whether the two of them were truly loyal or not, but it was obvious by now that they were voting separately. Their reluctance to vote off both Baltoy and Dusclops when asked to do so concerned him; perhaps he would have to kick them out of the alliance.

As he thought this, he recalled when Druddigon had left the alliance. Druddigon's departure had significantly weakened his alliance with Jolteon, though they would certainly never admit it. Chatot feared that booting Noivern and Castform from the alliance could have the same impact, which was something he'd prefer to avoid if possible.

Chatot's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as Jolteon burst through the door. Chatot hurriedly tucked away his yellow ticket before Jolteon could see it, more out of instinct than anything—Jolteon already knew of the existence of the ticket, after all. As Jolteon approached Chatot's bed, the avian Pokemon noticed his friend's eyes sparkling with glee, a stupid grin plastered on his face.

"Chatot! Hey, you'll never guess what happened!" Jolteon announced excitedly, rushing over to Chatot's side.

His feathered companion gave him a bewildered look. "What?" he asked Jolteon curiously.

"I asked Vaporeon out last night!" Jolteon blurted out. He was shivering with anticipation, as if bearing this news was about to make him explode. "And she said yes! Can you believe it?"

"Hardly," Chatot murmured to himself, his tone dripping with sarcasm. It was a rare occasion for him to see Jolteon this worked up over anything, given Jolteon's rather laid-back attitude. "But good for you, Jolteon. It's about time."

"What do you mean 'it's about time'? This is the first time I asked!" Jolteon said, oblivious to what Chatot was implying. "I don't know what to do, man! What do people do after they ask someone else out?"

"Well, first of all, they don't freak out like you're doin'," Chatot said, giving Jolteon an exasperated look. "But if ya want my advice...she said yes, so just keep doin' what you're doin'. It's not me she agreed ta go out with, it's you."

"That's...really cryptic, but thanks, Chatot!" Jolteon said. Chatot rolled his eyes, but he gave his friend a reassuring nod. "I should get going! I'm super hungry right now, and I really don't like being hungry!"

"So I've noticed," Chatot remarked snidely. Jolteon dashed out the cabin door in a flash, still jittery with joy.

Chatot stared out the window once Jolteon was gone. Unfortunately, Jolteon had ruined his train of thought after that sudden outburst, and he struggled to recall what he had been thinking of earlier. His mind naturally wandered to the topic of the game; almost half of the contestants were gone by now, but the game seemed even more difficult to manage than when it had started.

Chatot clenched his wings. If he'd made it this far, losing was no longer an option. Chatot stared at the spot where his yellow ticket was hidden; if nothing else, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

 **-static-**

Lopunny and Vaporeon were waiting in line for breakfast behind Combusken and Dusclops as the sun rose higher over the island. Diancie was serving up pancakes again this morning, which were practically considered a delicacy on the island. It was a breakfast that nobody wanted to miss.

Lopunny noticed Vaporeon trying to hide a smirk behind her paw, which she seemed to be having some trouble doing. "Someone seems awfully chipper today," Lopunny commented, raising an eyebrow.

Vaporeon giggled softly. "I guess you could say that," she said with a smile. Lopunny was confused by Vaporeon's peppy mood today, but it definitely wasn't a bad change; it made Lopunny happy to see Vaporeon enjoying herself between challenges again.

"So what do we have to thank for your good mood today?" Lopunny asked curiously. Diancie finished serving Dusclops ahead of the two Gastrodon girls, and motioned for Vaporeon to step forward.

"Not what. Who," Vaporeon corrected Lopunny with a mysterious smile. She accepted a helping of pancakes from Diancie and wandered off to her usual table. Lopunny took a plate from Diancie afterwards and made her way to the seat across from Vaporeon.

Lopunny sat down and looked to Vaporeon, her curiosity piqued. "Okay, then. Who?" Lopunny asked. "You've got me curious now, so you'd better not dodge the question."

"Okay, okay, no need to be so pushy," Vaporeon said, giggling again out of nowhere. "I'll tell you."

Lopunny took a bite of pancake as she awaited Vaporeon's answer. Mienshao sat down a short distance away from them with her own tray of pancakes, but she seemed to be minding her own business. "Jolteon asked me out yesterday," Vaporeon whispered to Lopunny, her eyes sparkling happily. "How's that for a surprise?"

Lopunny nearly choked on her food. "H...he did?" Lopunny asked weakly, swallowing her food with some difficulty. Vaporeon nodded eagerly. "Th-that's great."

"Isn't it?" Vaporeon asked, grinning uncontrollably. "I was wondering when he'd do it. I mean, I know he's had his eye on me for a while, but I didn't expect him to make a move yet."

Lopunny was staring down at the table, only comprehending half of what Vaporeon was saying. Vaporeon continued going on about what Jolteon told her last night, but Lopunny wasn't listening anymore. Her heart was pounding, and she didn't know how to stop it.

"...Uh, Lopunny?" Vaporeon repeated. She noticed that Lopunny had spaced out for a while. "You're looking kind of sick right now. Did the pancakes not sit well?"

"...I'm not feeling well," Lopunny responded quietly. She stood up and dumped her unfinished pancakes in the garbage before walking out of the cafeteria. Vaporeon watched Lopunny leave with a puzzled expression. Lopunny seemed upset for some reason. Had she said something amiss?

Meanwhile, Mienshao continued to eat her food inconspicuously, though she had caught enough of Vaporeon and Lopunny's conversation to learn what had transpired. So Vaporeon was dating someone from the other team, huh? Mienshao chuckled softly to herself. It never hurt to eavesdrop every now and then.

 **-static-**

"Er, Lopunny?" Lilligant asked hesitantly, knocking on the door of her cabin. She had seen Lopunny go inside a while ago, but the door was closed. Lilligant thought she could make out the faint sound of someone crying on the other side. "Are you in there?"

She heard a light scuffling from inside, and the sound of crying stopped instantly. Lilligant backed away from the door as it opened from inside, and Lopunny peeked out. Lilligant noticed that Lopunny's eyes seemed puffy, which was enough to confirm her suspicions.

Lopunny sighed, looking uncharacteristically downcast. "What?" the bunny asked quietly.

Lilligant tapped her leafy arms together nervously. "I was just going to go inside," Lilligant said. "But, um, are you okay?"

Lopunny opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to change her mind midway through. She pushed past Lilligant without a word, walking off towards the lake without so much as a single backward glance. The Flowering Pokemon felt concerned; she had never seen her team's leader this distraught before. But she also hesitated about whether or not to press the issue further; she had been in a rough place not long ago, and sometimes it helped to be alone.

"What'sss wrong?"

Lilligant gasped in surprise as Seviper snuck up behind her. "Sssorry," Seviper apologized swiftly. "Didn't mean to catch you off guard. Why are you waiting outssside?"

"Oh. Um, I was just…" Lilligant trailed off. "Never mind. It's nothing."

Seviper looked at Lilligant doubtfully. "You don't have to lie to me, Lilligant. I'm not going to ssshare anything you don't want me to," Seviper reminded her. "I'm here for you if you need me."

"Yeah, I know," Lilligant muttered guiltily. "But everything's fine with me right now. Almost everything, anyway."

Seviper could tell Lilligant was hiding something, but she knew better than to ask what that was. "Okay," Seviper said, slinking into the cabin. "Be ssseeing you around, then."

"Actually, I'm going inside, too," Lilligant said, holding the door open.

"Oh. That'sss convenient, I sssuppose," Seviper said, allowing Lilligant in after herself. She opened her mouth to ask Lilligant how she was doing, but a familiar voice stopped her.

"CAMPERS, REPORT TO THE CENTER OF CAMP! YOUR CHALLENGE IS ABOUT BEGIN!" Jirachi's voice announced loudly.

Seviper sighed. "Guesss it's time already." Lilligant nodded and walked back outside, where the host was already awaiting them.

 **-static-**

The campers took a short while to assemble. Lopunny had quickly returned from her trip out of camp and strayed to the back of the group, where she was less visible. Vaporeon and Lilligant both looked worried, but no one else seemed to have noticed anything vaguely off about Lopunny. Jirachi and Diancie were still the center of attention, floating in front of the campers in the middle of camp.

"What's our challenge today, if I may ask?" asked Druddigon formally, deciding to speak up when no one else would.

"It's something quite different from everything else we've done thus far," Jirachi admitted. "So I'm not sure how this will go. But you'd all better prepare for the worst, because we've cooked up something difficult for today!"

"That bettah not be a pun about anothah food challenge," said Chatot, giving Jirachi a disapproving look.

"Don't worry, Chatot, this isn't a food challenge. I think two of those was enough for everyone," Jirachi said. "Today's challenge is very different from both of those challenges!"

"Why don't I feel reassured by hearin' ya say that?" Chatot muttered to himself. Chandelure blinked boredly as she waited for the hosts to continue.

"Allow me to explain!" Diancie began. "This challenge will take place in a different kind of camp from the one you know. Today, your challenge is to survive the Pokemon Drama Island Boot Camp!"

Some of the more attentive campers noticed that Jirachi was wearing a whistle around his neck. "As you can see, I've got this whistle here. Anyone want to take any guesses as to what it's for?" Jirachi piped up.

"For...whistling?" Clauncher offered helpfully.

"Well, yes. You're not wrong," Jirachi sighed. "But I was looking for something a little more specific than that."

The host was met with silence, so he finally gave in and decided to explain it on his own. "It's a whistle. We're doing a boot camp challenge. Put two and two together, and," Jirachi raised his arms dramatically, "I'm going to be your drill sergeant!"

This news was universally met with groans and disappointed faces. "Okay, you know what? Suck it up. I'm not THAT bad," Jirachi said defiantly, giving the campers a cross look. "Diancie, you do the talking. I'm not in the mood anymore."

"All right," Diancie agreed. She cleared her throat. "Today, Jirachi and I will be keeping watch over all of you as you proceed in today's challenge. I'll take you through a variety of training activities, and if you can't keep up, you'll be disqualified from the challenge."

"Interesting," Druddigon said, tapping his chin. "So all we have to do is listen to your instructions?"

"That's correct," Diancie confirmed. "If, at any point, a contestant wishes to drop out or cannot continue, they'll sit the rest of the challenge out. The last Pokemon remaining wins for their team."

"And speaking of teams, we have an important announcement to make!" Jirachi cut in. Diancie nodded and allowed him to take over his usual role of making announcements to the campers. "By the end of the night, there will be no more teams!"

Most of the campers didn't initially know how to react to this news; they had figured out that the teams would be disbanded eventually, but this announcement was rather sudden. "After tonight's elimination ceremony, only half of the original contestants will remain," Jirachi explained. "So Diancie and I thought it would be fitting for those of you who made it halfway to duke it out amongst each other in a great big free-for-all!"

Mienshao cast glances at Seviper and Lilligant eagerly, realizing what this news meant. "No longer will you be restricted by team boundaries!" Jirachi continued. "You'll be able to vote out whoever you want, whether they used to be on your team or not. And if you didn't like your team before, you'll be able to work against them all you like!"

"Starting tonight, of course," Diancie reminded them. "You'll be merged after this elimination ceremony takes place, not before. So the losing team still votes out one last Pokemon just as they've normally done."

"If everyone understands what's going on, then we'll begin!" Jirachi said enthusiastically. None of the campers seemed to have any questions, so Jirachi glanced sideways at Diancie. "Okay, Diancie, let's get things started!"

"Attention, all campers!" Diancie yelled suddenly. She had indeed gained the attention of all the campers, who were not accustomed to hearing Diancie bark orders at them. "As of this moment, you are to listen to all orders given to you by Jirachi and I! If you do not, you risk disqualification from this challenge. Am I clear?"

She was met with blank stares until the campers began recovering from their shock. "Crystal clear, ma'am," Druddigon finally responded, giving her a salute.

Diancie gave the rest of the campers a stern look. "When I ask you a question, you answer!" she ordered. "Have I made myself clear?"

"Y-yes," Combusken spoke up nervously, not wanting Diancie to be mad at him.

Diancie gave him a reprimanding glare anyway. "That's 'yes, ma'am,'" she corrected him, her tone firm.

"Y-yes, m-ma'am," Combusken squeaked timidly.

"Now let me hear the rest of you say it," Diancie said, turning back to the crowd of campers. "I'll repeat myself _once_ more. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the campers chanted in unison.

Jirachi snickered and turned to Diancie. "Having fun there?"

"A little bit," she admitted with a smirk. Jirachi grinned at her.

 **-static-**

" **If you ask me, the premise for this challenge is ridiculous," Chandelure sighed, appearing somewhat disgruntled. "The only part I'm interested in is what happens once it's over. Once the teams split, I'll have the opportunity to pick off threats from the other team, which opens up a new realm of possibilities."**

 **Her eyes rested on the camera for a moment. "I'll admit, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little excited by that prospect. Not to mention it's easier to blend in with sixteen Pokemon than eight."**

 **-static-**

" **No more teams?" Mienshao repeated to herself, rubbing her hands together in anticipation as a twisted grin made its way across her face. "What more could I ask for? As long as I'm part of the Gastrodons, I don't stand much of a chance during voting ceremonies. But once the Milotics are mixed into the fray, I'll be a trickier target to hit. It's almost like the game's finally rewarding me for making it this far by giving me a fresh start."**

 **Mienshao's brow furrowed as she finished that last sentence. "Or as close as I can get to a fresh start, anyway. Once I'm able to eliminate Seviper and Lilligant, then I'll be able to focus on new strategies."**

 **-static-**

"To start off, we'll be doing some simple warm-ups!" Diancie shouted out as the campers assembled before her. "We'll begin by having you run laps around camp! If you can't finish all of your laps, you'll be disqualified!"

"How many laps must you run, you may be wondering?" Jirachi asked rhetorically, not waiting for an answer. "Eight! Eight laps will be enough. But if you don't complete all eight laps in under ten minutes, you'll also be disqualified!"

"Wait, so there's a time limit, too?" Dusclops asked. "That's kind of harsh."

"Harsh or not, that's the rule we've chosen to enforce!" Jirachi stated plainly. "If you can't keep up with the pace, you're clearly not capable of completing the rest of your boot camp training, so you'll sit the rest of the challenge out! You got that?"

"Uh, yeah," Dusclops muttered. "Yes, _sir,"_ he added hastily.

"That's the spirit!" Jirachi said cheerfully. "Okay, campers, get moving! The timer starts...now!" he said, pushing a button on the timer that had mysteriously appeared in his hand. All seventeen campers scrambled to the outskirts of camp and began running (or in some cases, levitating) their way around it.

 **-static-**

" **Sssince the teamsss will be merged after thisss challenge, there'sss really no reassson for me to put forth any effort thisss time," Seviper admitted. "I'm not at risssk of elimination if we don't win thisss one. There'sss no penalty for losssing thisss time sssince we'll all be in the sssame boat afterwardsss."**

 **Seviper gazed into the camera. "Makesss it kind of pointlesss to try right now, honessstly."**

 **-static-**

Diancie and Jirachi watched the campers jog around the campsite while relaxing in the cool shade of the hosts' headquarters. Jirachi took a sip from his glass of lemonade as he kept an eye on the contestants, waiting for one of them to mess up to he could swoop in and disqualify them.

But the remaining seventeen contestants were holding up well so far, and they all completed their first lap without incident. Leading the pack of campers were some of the fastest contestants, like Jolteon, Lopunny, Mienshao, and Noivern. Noivern was flying low to the ground, assuming that if she went any higher, the hosts might call her out for cheating. All of the other contestants who could fly or levitate seemed to be operating under the same assumption, and eventually all of the campers passed their second lap.

By their third lap, some of the campers were beginning to get tired. Dusclops and Reuniclus, who were some of the slowest campers on the island, were only nearing the end of their second lap by the time Jolteon finished his third. Combusken had noticeably slowed down and was panting heavily, trying to catch his breath for a moment. Seviper hardly looked like she was trying; she was barely ahead of Dusclops and Reuniclus, yet she seemed completely unmotivated to quicken her pace.

"Aw, man," Reuniclus muttered under his breath. "This challenge sucks already."

"We'll pull through," Beedrill said, appearing behind Reuniclus and shoving him forward gently. "Now keep moving. I'd hate to see what the hosts do if we drop out this early."

"Yeah, fair point," Reuniclus agreed. He quickened his pace slightly, and Beedrill flew past his friend once more; even though he would have liked to stay with Reuniclus to talk longer, the Psychic-type was going at a slow enough pace that Beedrill wasn't confident that he would finish in time.

At this point, Dusclops and Reuniclus were tied in last, with Seviper, Chandelure, and Castform only being slightly ahead of them. Castform, noticing that Dusclops was only slightly behind her, slowed her pace so that she could talk with Dusclops while the two of them ran.

"This challenge feels really tame in comparison to what we've faced up until now," Castform commented as Dusclops caught up to her. "It's not just me thinking that, right?"

"Yeah, it is kind of weird," Dusclops agreed suspiciously. "The hosts have to have something planned to spice this one up. Knowing them, it's not the kind of surprise to look forward to."

"There's no doubt about that," Castform agreed. "By the way, what are you planning to do after the merge?"

Dusclops glanced over at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I'm probably going to do the same things I've done up until now, just without a team."

"Oh," Castform said. Dusclops caught her opening her mouth to say something else, but she hesitated. "Well, good luck after the merge, anyway. Noivern and I were talking about our plans for the game yesterday, and I was just wondering what you were going to do. Now that Cryogonal's gone, I imagine that kind of screwed you over a bit."

Castform fell silent as she noticed Dusclops's expression change. "Yeah, I guess so," he muttered halfheartedly. Castform was quick to catch on to his downcast mood, and she tried to recover the situation as best as possible.

"Cryogonal's elimination has you feeling blue, huh?" she asked, floating ahead of him a bit. Dusclops nodded dully. "It sucks that he had to leave so soon. I didn't vote for him, just so you know. But I wonder how many votes he had to get to go home...if Noivern and I didn't vote for him, and the two of you didn't either, it must have been quite a few."

"Yeah," Dusclops agreed. "I mean, you'd think with the numbers we had, that he wouldn't...wait. You and Noivern both didn't vote for Cryogonal?" Dusclops looked perplexed.

"Of course not. Why would we?" asked Castform curiously. "Cryogonal's kind of our friend, too. I mean, I haven't talked to him a whole lot, but he's kind of our friend through you. I'd feel bad for voting him out."

"So who _did_ you vote for?" Dusclops prompted her, picking up his pace as he noticed Diancie looking his way.

"Druddigon," Castform admitted. "Don't tell him that we did, obviously. But I couldn't think of who else to vote for."

"That doesn't make any sense." Dusclops felt even more confused as he tried to wrap his head around the problem in order to think it through like Cryogonal. "If Cryogonal and I voted for Druddigon too, and we convinced Mawile to vote with us, that's five votes against him!"

"Mawile voted with you?" asked Castform in surprise. Her eyes took on a suspicious look as the realization hit her. "Oh, I get it. If all five of us voted for Druddigon, then he should have been the one going home."

"Exactly!" Dusclops exclaimed, racking his brain for any sort of logical conclusion. "That can only mean one thing."

"One of us didn't vote for Druddigon," Castform concluded for him. Dusclops nodded grimly.

"It's possible that that two of us didn't, actually," Dusclops added after some thought. Castform looked confused. "If four of us voted for Druddigon, it would take every single other Pokemon on our team working together to vote out Cryogonal just for there to not be a tie, and I can't see that happening. I think it's likely that more than one of us didn't vote for Druddigon."

"We would never do that, though!" Castform protested. "I mean, you trust me, right? And I trust Noivern. I doubt Cryogonal had any reason for voting himself off, so that leaves..."

"Mawile," Dusclops finished, his eye narrowed in suspicion. Castform didn't look any happier than he did to have come to this conclusion, but there didn't seem to be many other possibilities.

Another moment of silence passed between the two. "So what's the plan now?" Castform finally asked, giving Dusclops a quizzical look.

Dusclops sighed. "I don't know. I'll figure out a way to handle this," he said firmly, though Castform knew him well enough to tell that he was still uncertain.

"We'd better keep moving. Diancie's had her eye on us for a while," Castform told Dusclops hurriedly. Dusclops nodded and marched forward, trying to take his mind off of Mawile for the time being.

 **-static-**

" **If what Castform and I theorized is true, that answers any questions about the future of my alliance with Mawile," said Dusclops, his expression dark. "She never felt like a part of our alliance, but I never expected her to backstab Cryogonal like this, either. This came completely out of the blue."**

 **He was quiet for a while. "I feel like an idiot for not seeing this coming," he muttered, cradling his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, Cryogonal."**

 **-static-**

"I…" Combusken gasped for air. "I don't think...I can do it…"

Lilligant had stopped with Combusken at the side of the track. The chicken was doubled over, trying to regulate his breathing once more. Unfortunately, this had put the two of them significantly behind the pace of most other campers, but Lilligant was concerned that Combusken would overexert himself and pass out.

"Are you sure you can't go any further?" Lilligant pushed, trying to sound encouraging.

"Y-you were the one who said I should stop!" Combusken reminded her. "And y-yeah. I'm really not meant for a challenge like this…"

Lilligant nodded. "Okay. I guess I'll tell Diancie that you—"

"Tell me what?"

Lilligant and Combusken let out frightened shouts in unison as Diancie appeared right behind them without warning. For some reason, Diancie's presence during this challenge was oddly intimidating; ordinarily, the two of them found Diancie to have an aura of calm about her. But that didn't make her intense stare any less creepy.

"Er, Combusken's thinking of dropping out of the challenge," Lilligant said meekly. "He's tired."

"Is that so?" Diancie asked, fixing Combusken with a disapproving look. "Well, let's hear it from the chicken himself. Are you too tired to finish? You feel exhausted and want to give up already?"

Combusken flinched at her words; the way she spoke them made it seem like she was directly insulting him. "N-no," he muttered weakly. "I'll keep going."

Lilligant gave Combusken a worried look as Diancie backed up, looking satisfied with his answer. "That's what I like to hear," Diancie said, giving him a nod of acknowledgment. "Don't give up just because things look hard. Every battle seems unwinnable if you give up too early."

Combusken hopped back onto the track and began jogging at a slightly slower pace to account for his waning energy. Lilligant watched from afar as he caught up with Clauncher after a while. The two friends began chatting, though they were too far away for her to hear any snippets of their conversation.

"What are you staring at, soldier? Get moving!" Diancie barked at Lilligant, startling the plant Pokemon out of her thoughts and onto the track. Lilligant picked up her pace next to Mawile, who was maintaining a modest but respectable speed. Mawile didn't seem to notice Lilligant running alongside her; the Steel-type was distracted by Dusclops, who had been sneaking multiple glances her way since the start of the challenge. She wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to her about something, but for some reason she found his stare rather unnerving.

 **-static-**

Some time passed as the campers continued running the course. Diancie and Jirachi had migrated outside now, and were sitting in chairs that they had set up in the shade. Jirachi glanced up as he saw Jolteon running toward him, slightly out of breath.

"Done," he said, panting heavily. "I did all eight laps."

"And in record time, too!" Jirachi commended him, holding up his timer to check Jolteon's time. "Anyways, if you're done, stand over there and await further instruction. This challenge isn't over yet; we've got plenty more in store for all of you!"

Jolteon swallowed before hesitantly speaking up. "Er, how much more?" he asked. "Some of us are already tired, so…"

"We'll go as long as we have to," Diancie responded coolly. "Until only one camper remains, or until the only remaining campers are on the same team."

Diancie returned her watchful gaze upon the campers who had not yet finished. "If you understand, you can wait over there until the other campers finish."

"Yes, ma'am," Jolteon muttered hastily, making sure to emphasize the last part to avoid a reprimand. Diancie gave him a curt nod, and Jolteon took this as his cue to stand aside.

 **-static-**

After Jolteon finished his fifteen laps, a number of other campers began finishing as well. To nobody's surprise, Lopunny, Mienshao, and Noivern were among the first to finish. Diancie checked to see which campers were leading the crowd now; it appeared that Beedrill and Vaporeon were fighting for first, with Druddigon jogging along behind them.

Mawile and Lilligant were still keeping pace with each other, though Lilligant had fallen slightly behind due to her lower stamina. Lilligant checked to see that Combusken was still running behind her before putting on a burst of speed in an attempt to pass Mawile. She was unsuccessful, and fell in line behind the Steel-type again shortly after.

A shrill whistle sound caught Lilligant's attention. She glanced ahead of her to see Jirachi standing at the end of the track, which Beedrill and Vaporeon had just reached at about the same time.

"Beedrill, Vaporeon, you can wait until the other contestants are finished," said Jirachi. Beedrill nodded and Vaporeon silently walked past the host, casting a glance in Lopunny's direction to see how she was doing. Lopunny's expression was unreadable, and she was gazing off in a random direction. Vaporeon let out a sigh.

 **-static-**

" **I can't tell what's on Lopunny's mind this morning, but it's kind of been bothering me," Vaporeon confessed. "I don't know what upset her, but she's usually not like this at all. She was acting really strange when I told her about what happened with Jolteon."**

 **Vaporeon stared at the camera, perplexed. "I thought that she, of all Pokemon, would have been happy to hear that. I guess not, huh?"**

 **-static-**

Clauncher darted around Chatot as he made his way around camp one last time. The two of them had been contending for seventh place for some time now, and Chatot was getting annoyed with Clauncher's antics.

Chatot flew close to the ground and attempted to block Clauncher with one wing as the Water-type tried passing him again. Clauncher nimbly ducked under Chatot and took the lead. Before long, the two of them crossed the finish line, with Clauncher beating out Chatot by a few seconds.

Chatot let out an aggravated sigh as he reached the end. "This ain't a race, ya know," Chatot told Clauncher with a frown.

"I know. But it's not against the rules to act like it is," Clauncher said with a grin. Chatot rolled his eyes and walked off to meet with Jolteon.

"We did it, man!" Clauncher exclaimed, rushing over to Beedrill for a high-five.

Beedrill gave Clauncher a peculiar look. "You do recall that I have needles for hands, right?" Beedrill reminded him. "Because I feel like you forgot that little detail just now."

Clauncher was visibly disappointed by this realization. "Yeah, I know that," he muttered under his breath.

"Looks like about half of us have finished," Beedrill commented. Nine of the seventeen total campers remained on the track, doing their best to finish within the time limit. "I wonder how the hosts are going to run this challenge. I mean, someone's bound to get disqualified eventually, but what's the penalty for that?"

"Well, the losing team still loses someone," Clauncher mentioned. "I think that's incentive enough to try and win."

"Maybe," Beedrill said, though he didn't sound convinced. "But I can't help but feel like the merge is going to make it more difficult for us. Assuming that Mienshao is still in after this challenge, we'll have to contend with not only the votes of the rest of our team, but the Milotics' votes as well. It'll be nearly impossible to win the majority vote anymore."

"You're still intent on voting Mienshao out?" Clauncher asked. Beedrill gave him a look that made it seem like that should have been obvious. "Well, I mean, I get it. But isn't it time that we just try to keep all of our own in? I'm more worried about one of us ending up like Tyranitar than I am about Mienshao pulling any crazy stunts. She's alone; what can she really do?"

"She's crafty. I wouldn't put it past her to at least try something," Beedrill answered. "Look, I'm not forcing you to see things my way, but I still think the best move is targeting Mienshao. And if we lose this challenge…"

"Are you saying we should lose intentionally?" Clauncher asked dubiously. "Because that sounds like the king of all bad ideas."

"Think about it. Mienshao's clearly disadvantaged during elimination ceremonies, and once she's gone, the teams will be merged," Beedrill reminded Clauncher. "Meaning that we don't get penalized at all if we get her out now. This is our one shot to take her out without putting ourselves on the line."

"Well...I guess." Clauncher sounded uncertain despite Beedrill's explanation. "I don't know. I have a bad feeling about what could happen if we throw the challenge on purpose. It just feels wrong."

"Then just think about it, all right? The challenge isn't over, so you'll have plenty of time to contemplate your options," Beedrill said. "If you decide to go along with the plan, get yourself disqualified."

Clauncher tapped his pincers together nervously. "But don't make it obvious," Beedrill added. "I don't want you getting targeted because the rest of our team figures out we dropped out intentionally."

Clauncher still felt reluctant after Beedrill's speech; Beedrill had just described exactly why he didn't want to go along with the plan. If the rest of the Gastrodons suspected sabotage, he or Beedrill could easily be on the next Lapras home. And to Clauncher, keeping his friends in the game was more important than taking his enemies out of it.

 **-static-**

" **I do hope that Clauncher decides to work with me during this challenge," said Beedrill. "Mienshao's slipped under the radar for way too long. Everybody on my team knows that she'll be the next one to go if we have to pick someone, but this is the last chance that we have as a team to act on it."**

 **Beedrill drummed his needles on the confessional seat absentmindedly. "Still, I can't see Pokemon like Vaporeon or Lopunny wanting to throw the challenge," he admitted. "So I'll have to do this secretively, which makes things quite difficult."**

 **-static-**

Druddigon, Mawile, and Lilligant all managed to finish their eight laps fairly soon after Chatot. "Attention, campers!" Jirachi shouted, blowing his whistle to get their attention. "You have three minutes remaining! Those of you who don't finish your laps within three minutes will be disqualified!"

"Well, crud," Dusclops said, turning to Castform. "You think we can do four laps in three minutes?"

"Only one way to find out!" Castform said brightly. Dusclops nodded in agreement and the two of them sped up considerably. They were able to easily pass by both Reuniclus and Seviper, although it was clear that the latter was no longer even trying to complete the challenge at this point. Only Combusken and Chandelure remained ahead of them.

Chandelure was idly floating around the outskirts of camp, appearing about as enthusiastic to finish the challenge as Seviper. Surprisingly, despite Combusken's actual attempts to finish the challenge at a decent pace, he was hardly faring any better than she was. Combusken internally berated himself for not working out more as he jogged slowly, breathing heavily with each step.

Chandelure glanced over at Combusken, amused by his tired expression. "You should give up now," Chandelure said bluntly. "You're not going to make it to the end in three minutes like that. Save yourself the embarrassment."

Combusken glanced over in shock. "What? No!" he sputtered. "I'm not giving up!"

"Hm," Chandelure hummed quietly to herself. "Well, don't get your hopes up about winning. You'll be one of the next ones out."

Combusken stared at her in shock, taken aback by her words. On one hand, she was probably right; Combusken wasn't at all confident that he could actually compete with anyone else here. But simply giving up seemed like an almost guaranteed way to be eliminated, and he didn't want to go home after getting so close to the merge.

Quickly weighing his options, Combusken made a decision and quickened his pace. Chandelure rolled her eyes and followed after him; she had no plans to lose in the first part of the challenge, either. From a distance behind the two, Reuniclus watched Combusken closely.

 **-static-**

" **Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Combusken or anything," Reuniclus began. "But let's be honest here; the only reason he's still in is because we've carried him this far. And since the teams are being merged, it probably won't be long until he realizes nobody has his back anymore."**

 **-static-**

"Chandelure, Combusken, you have both completed your first task!"

Combusken drew to a halt in the middle of camp, gasping for breath before toppling over onto the ground in exhaustion. Chandelure ignored him and floated off towards the cabins, satisfied that she had made the cut.

Jirachi whipped out his trusty megaphone and held it to his mouth. "ATTENTION, ALL FOUR OF YOU STILL RUNNING!" Jirachi shouted. "YOU NOW HAVE LESS THAN ONE MINUTE TO COMPLETE THE CHALLENGE. I EITHER SUGGEST YOU GIVE UP NOW, OR START HUSTLING LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT."

"I'm okay with giving up if you are," Dusclops huffed, trudging along steadily next to Castform.

"I don't really care," Castform confessed. "Neither of us is at risk of elimination today, unless another curveball gets thrown our way."

"Do we really want to take another risk?" Dusclops asked, recalling how the last elimination ceremony went.

"We're not going to complete this challenge anyway," Castform said realistically. "I say we drop out now."

"Fair enough," admitted Dusclops. The two Milotics stopped abruptly in their tracks and noticed Seviper and Reuniclus doing the same. It appeared that the two Gastrodons had accepted the fact that they wouldn't finish in time as well.

"WAIT, SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU ALL QUITTING NOW?" Jirachi inquired over the megaphone. "THAT'S REALLY LAME, GUYS. THANKS FOR THAT."

"You're welcome," Seviper scowled sarcastically. She slithered off to the female Gastrodons' cabin, relieved to be free of the challenge. Reuniclus cast an uncomfortable glance after her and went to talk with Beedrill and Clauncher until the next challenge was called.

"Sorry that I couldn't make it to the second part," Reuniclus said sheepishly as he approached Beedrill. "I guess it's up to you guys to finish this one."

Beedrill shook his head. "This actually works out rather well in accordance with what we have planned," Beedrill informed Reuniclus.

"Does it?" asked Reuniclus, surprised. "How?"

"If we lose, Mienshao goes home," Beedrill explained. "You follow my logic?"

The Psychic-type paused to think momentarily. "I do, but it's a risky play," Reuniclus said. "Are you sure about this?"

"Would I have brought it up if I wasn't?" Beedrill reasoned. "There's hardly any risk between the three of us in the alliance. Last I checked, neither you nor Clauncher had a target on your back, and I think my performance in the past is enough to keep me safe."

Much like Clauncher, Reuniclus didn't seem easily convinced that this was a good idea. "About that, actually," Reuniclus said, "I do think Mienshao's still potentially targeting me, so…"

"So what? She's alone," Beedrill pointed out. "Honestly, Reuniclus, there's no reason to be afraid of her. This is an easy out."

"Hm," said Reuniclus. "Well, it doesn't matter what I think. I'm the one who's out of the challenge already, so it's up to you and Clauncher to throw if you really want to go through with this."

"Precisely," Beedrill said, turning to Clauncher. "Are you still on board?"

Clauncher's expression was indicative that he still wasn't certain, and Reuniclus and Beedrill exchanged a meaningful glance. Both were quick to realize that Clauncher didn't want to throw the challenge.

"I...I don't know," Clauncher admitted. "I'll try to do whatever's best, okay?"

Beedrill sighed after a moment. "All right," he said. "That's a start. Let's get back out there, Clauncher. Diancie's calling for everyone."

 **-static-**

"Okay, campers!" Diancie shouted as the campers lined up in front of her and Jirachi. "Those of you standing before me have completed the first part of this challenge! Now that you're warmed up, we'll be performing more exercises to weed out the weaklings!"

"Drop and give me a hundred!" Jirachi shouted suddenly, pointing at Combusken.

"A-ah! Yes, sir!" Combusken said frantically, giving Jirachi a shaky salute. The fowl dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups, albeit with somewhat sloppy form. Jirachi cackled gleefully as he watched Combusken struggle.

Diancie cleared her throat loudly, getting Jirachi's attention. "Ah, yes," Jirachi said. "While it is amusing to watch Combusken tire himself out, this challenge is for all of you! Give me one hundred push-ups each or you're out!"

Druddigon nodded confidently and lowered himself to the ground steadily. Now that this challenge was playing to his strengths, the Cave Pokemon was almost certain that he would be able to outlast the majority of the campers. Druddigon began performing his push-ups, quickly outpacing Combusken despite the chicken's head start. Diancie also noticed that Lopunny was going at an impressive pace. It was evident that Lopunny was no stranger to a tough workout; she was even holding her own against Druddigon.

"Excuse me," Chandelure interrupted the hosts' thought process abruptly. "What do you expect those of us without arms and legs to do for this portion?"

"Sorry, Chandelure, but boot camp is made to weed out those of you who aren't up to the challenge! No exceptions this time," Jirachi said with a smirk. "If you can't handle it, then drop out!"

"Gladly," Chandelure retorted. She gave the hosts one last disapproving look before heading into her cabin. Noivern snickered quietly at Chandelure's sass, but Diancie took notice of this.

"Is something funny, Noivern?" Diancie asked sharply, fixing the wyvern with a withering look.

Noivern snapped to attention, giving Diancie an exaggerated salute. "No, ma'am! Nothing is funny in the slightest!" Noivern blurted out. "I was merely laughing at this...grass."

Diancie raised an eyebrow, and Noivern realized how stupid she sounded. "Ah...hahaha," Noivern laughed weakly. "Gotta love grass, right?"

"Get back to your push-ups," Diancie said, rolling her eyes. Noivern did so, looking a bit embarrassed but keeping a commendable pace regardless.

Meanwhile, Jirachi was overseeing the other campers' progress. He levitated up and down the rows of campers, all of whom were doing (or at least attempting) their exercises. He stopped once he noticed Lilligant. "Lilligant, what are you doing?"

The flowery Grass-type glanced up to see Jirachi fixing her with a perplexed look. "Push-ups," Lilligant replied plainly. "Was I supposed to be doing something else?"

"Those aren't push-ups," Jirachi pointed out as Lilligant lifted herself using her arms once more.

"Well, I don't have legs!" Lilligant protested, throwing her hands up in the air. "What else am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know," said Jirachi with a shrug. "It's not my job to figure out challenges for you."

"That is literally your only job," said Lilligant, frowning at the host.

Jirachi scowled at Lilligant. "Well, how's this for figuring out a challenge for you? You're disqualified now. Hope you're happy with that."

Lilligant sighed in defeat. "All right, that's fair," she muttered, standing up.

Jirachi sighed irritably and turned to the rest of the campers. "Who else here can't do push-ups properly?" he asked. Glancing around, he noticed that Jolteon and Vaporeon in particular were having trouble due to their quadrupedal bodies, though some campers like Clauncher and Chatot were having a difficult time performing them as well.

"Jolteon and Vaporeon, you're both out," Jirachi called their names loudly.

"Wait, what?" Jolteon perked up, hearing his own name. "I'm out already?"

"Those were the saddest push-ups I've ever seen, Jolteon. They were pitiful. I had to put them out of their misery," Jirachi said, shaking his head. "Well, actually Lilligant's were worse. But she didn't have legs, so that was excusable."

"Hey, I was trying," Jolteon said defensively. He sighed unhappily as he noticed the host giving him a stern look. "Guess I'm out, then. Good luck, Chatot."

"I ain't ever needed luck ta win, Jolteon," Chatot groaned, struggling to push his own body up. He grunted from the effort of holding himself up, his wings trembling slightly from the pressure. "See? Doin' just fine."

He glanced over to see that Jolteon wasn't even paying any attention to him; he had run off with Vaporeon, the two of them chatting happily with each other as they headed out of camp. Chatot groaned and collapsed onto the ground.

"Chatot, out!"

"Shut up."

 **-static-**

" **I hate ta be a pessimist, but this thing between Jolteon an' Vaporeon seems ta be takin' his mind off of the game," Chatot said, folding his wings. He wore a serious expression. "I feel like it's gonna interfere with challenges, and I've got a bad feelin' it's gonna affect our alliance too. I mean, I want Jolteon ta be happy, but...his head's not in the game right now. And that's a dangerous place ta be."**

 **-static-**

Lopunny felt a bead of sweat drop from her arm onto the grass as she continued her push-ups. To her right, Mienshao was keeping a steady pace; to her left, Noivern was having a bit more difficulty keeping up. Lopunny felt a slight boost in confidence knowing that the other team was still far behind, with the exception of Druddigon.

Unfortunately, Lopunny's easy ticket to victory was not meant to last. As she finished another set of push-ups, Lopunny felt a searing pain in her leg as it cramped up. Lopunny bit her lip and resisted the urge to stop; Jirachi would probably disqualify her for taking a break. Easing herself down slowly once more, she continued her push-ups at a slowed pace.

Mienshao took notice of this, and threw Lopunny a confused look. "Why are you slowing down?" Mienshao hissed. "You were almost going faster than Druddigon!"

Lopunny exhaled sharply as another wave of pain washed over her. "My leg," Lopunny responded with a pained expression. "I just need to take a breather."

Mienshao's eyes left Lopunny as she realized the problem. Lopunny couldn't stop as long as the hosts were watching, but she couldn't keep going for much longer, either.

Mienshao let out a heavy sigh and glanced behind her. Combusken was doing weak push-ups just a few feet away, but he looked as if he had almost reached his limit. Mienshao then checked to see if the hosts were watching her. Both hosts appeared to be busy reprimanding Clauncher for his terrible form, so Mienshao seized the opportunity to make her move.

WHAM!

Jirachi and Diancie suddenly glanced up to see Combusken sprawled out on the grass, flat on his back. Jirachi exchanged a perplexed glance with Diancie before floating over to investigate.

Some of the other campers took notice of the fact that Combusken had suddenly been knocked out as Jirachi gave the chicken a quick once-over. "Yep, he's out cold," Jirachi confirmed for Diancie. "That's odd. I expected him to drop out after he got tired, not pass out in the middle of the challenge."

Diancie's eyes swept the crowd suspiciously. Mienshao, who was positioned directly in front of Combusken, hadn't even bothered to check if Combusken was unconscious. Nonetheless, Diancie knew that it wasn't her place to interfere in the challenge; she simply picked up Combusken and headed for the infirmary. Most of the remaining campers watched her go, still confused by what had just transpired.

"Less staring and more bodily movement, people!" Jirachi shouted loudly. "Let's get these push-ups done!"

As the other campers resumed the rather tedious task at hand, Lopunny stared at Mienshao in shock. "Was that you?" Lopunny whispered accusingly, gesturing after Diancie and Combusken.

"We needed a distraction so you could recover," Mienshao whispered back, her eyes not meeting Lopunny's. "I gave you one. It's not like we were counting on Combusken to carry us in the challenge, anyway."

"When I implied that I needed to rest, that did not mean that I wanted you to give Combusken a concussion!" Lopunny snapped. Though her tone was harsh, her voice barely rose above a whisper. "Besides, that only bought us thirty seconds!"

"Jeez, how many Pokemon do I have to knock out to satisfy you?" Mienshao muttered sarcastically.

"None! Don't knock out anyone!" Lopunny argued adamantly. "That should be common sense! Have you considered that this is why none of our teammates trust you?"

"You're oversimplifying the matter. Just be grateful and finish the challenge," Mienshao retorted, resuming her push-ups as Jirachi's gaze passed over her. Lopunny mirrored her movements, giving Mienshao a look of disbelief.

 **-static-**

" **I know Mienshao's no stranger to sabotage, but this has to be a new low," Lopunny muttered in frustration. "At least before, she was sabotaging the other team. Now she's just become a problem for everyone involved."**

 **Lopunny let out a stressful sigh. "I'm really starting to think voting out Minun was a mistake. Maybe we gave Mienshao too many chances to redeem herself."**

 **-static-**

Beedrill continued doing push-ups, his needle-tipped arms quivering more violently with each repetition. Finally, he let out a defeated sigh. "I can't do this anymore. I'm dropping out now."

Jirachi looked surprised once he realized who the source of the voice was. "Are you sure you want to drop out?" he asked Beedrill with raised eyebrows. The host appeared mildly disappointed, like he had expected Beedrill to get further. "Because, you know, I can't let you back in once you quit."

"Yeah, I'm done," Beedrill confirmed, standing up and scraping some dirt off of his needles. He shot a quick look in Clauncher's direction before heading out, as though he expected Clauncher to follow suit. Clauncher felt his stance weakening; even though his teammates wanted him to throw the challenge to eliminate Mienshao, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Even if he hadn't been eliminated yet, Clauncher had been in the bottom two multiple times; losing the challenge meant risking that again.

Clauncher took a deep breath and cleared his mind of Beedrill's words. There would be plenty of time to eliminate Mienshao later. For now, all he had to do was win the challenge, and he would officially have earned a place past the merge.

 **-static-**

"Let's go, people! Do I need to institute a time limit or something?" huffed Jirachi impatiently.

"Do it. I dare you," Diancie said, nudging the host with one arm.

"ATTENTION, CAMPERS, YOU ALL HAVE ONE MINUTE TO FINISH YOUR PUSH-UPS."

"What?" Mawile gasped. "I still have forty-seven left!"

Jirachi placed his megaphone directly in front of Mawile's face and switched it on. "WELL, THAT'S JUST A SHAME, ISN'T IT?"

Druddigon raised a hand from his position on the ground. "What, Druddigon?" Jirachi asked with a sigh.

"With all due respect, I'm not sure it's possible for any of us to finish within the time limit," Druddigon stated.

"Not with that attitude! THIRTY-NINE SECONDS LEFT, EVERYONE!" Jirachi shouted. Druddigon immediately resumed the challenge, pumping out push-ups at double the rate he had managed before. Lopunny and Mienshao were holding up also holding up well; however, Clauncher, Noivern, and Mawile all looked like they were about to drop from exhaustion.

"There! Now we won't have to wait much longer," Jirachi said to Diancie optimistically. "Am I efficient or what?"

Diancie laughed quietly, and the two hosts began waiting for the time to run out.

 **-static-**

Less than a minute later, the time limit drew to an end. To nobody's surprise, only Druddigon, Mienshao, and Lopunny completed the challenge. Noivern collapsed in a heap on the ground, sweating profusely.

"I should really work out more," Noivern groaned under her breath. "But also...working out sucks."

"I'm off to the cabins," Mawile muttered, wiping some sweat from her brow. Clauncher hobbled over toward Beedrill and Reuniclus, looking rather worried by the fact that he had failed the challenge. Then again, there wasn't anything that could be done to change that, so Clauncher let the thought slip away.

Jirachi clapped his hands together twice, gaining the attention of the three remaining contestants. "It's been fun, you three, but there can only be one winner!" Jirachi announced. "Actually, there _could_ be two, if Druddigon loses before either of the Gastrodons. But there will probably only be one! So let's jump right into what is probably going to be the final challenge!"

Druddigon crossed his arms as Jirachi continued on into the second part of his announcement. "This next part of your challenge is going to be…" Jirachi paused, doing a dramatic flourish with his arms as he did so. "An obstacle course!"

Mienshao frowned at the tiny floating host. "Really? After all that exercise, we're just doing an obstacle course?"

"Don't be silly! You know me. Of course it's not just an ordinary obstacle course!" Jirachi said happily. "It's an obstacle course with the added bonus of hazards!"

Druddigon glared at Mienshao. "You just had to tempt him," grunted Druddigon, shaking his head.

Mienshao made a face at Druddigon. "Don't blame this on me," she scowled. "I have to put up with this nonsense, too."

Jirachi cleared his throat, his eyes flickering back and forth between Druddigon and Mienshao until the two of them turned toward him. "Anyways, as I was saying," the host resumed, "the obstacle course is set up with hazards. First, each of you will pass over a climbing wall."

Diancie floated out from behind Jirachi and made an exaggerated gesture toward the climbing wall with her arms. "The climbing wall will occasionally withdraw some of its rocky ledges if you apply too much pressure," Jirachi warned the contestants. "So don't grip them too tightly! Climbing quickly is the key."

Diancie moved past the climbing wall to a balance beam on the other side. "Next up is the balance beam! If I have to explain this one, I am going to be disappointed beyond words," Jirachi said. "Does anyone need an explanation?"

Druddigon decided to speak up. "I don't require an explanation, but verifying the instructions for clarity would certainly be appreciated."

"I like the way you phrased that, so I'll explain it just for you, Druddigon!" Jirachi agreed brightly. "One must walk across this nicely crafted beam while maintaining their balance! If they make it across without falling, it's a success!"

"Forgive me for asking, but what exactly is the hazard here?" Mienshao asked dubiously.

"Falling is a very serious hazard, Mienshao," Jirachi replied gravely. "What happens if you fall and can't get up?"

Mienshao rolled her eyes. "I'm fairly certain I can get up on my own just fine."

"And of course, this is where I get to say that you're wrong and introduce the next hazard!" Jirachi said gleefully. "Underneath this balance beam, you'll see a pit of weird green stuff!"

Beneath the beam was a rectangular pit dug out of the ground. Jirachi motioned for the campers to look inside, so Mienshao ventured closer and peered down into the pit. It was filled with a mysterious green substance, though Mienshao had no idea what it was.

"See this green goo right here?" Jirachi asked the campers. "It's extraordinarily difficult to climb out of. If you just so happen to be unfortunate enough to fall in, you may find that getting back out is an entire challenge in itself!"

"Interesting," murmured Druddigon to himself. Mienshao cast a wary glance at the pit.

"And the last part of your obstacle course is…" Jirachi paused dramatically. "The totem pole!"

The three campers left all gazed past Jirachi at the three totem poles that had been set up in the middle of camp. Each totem pole was crafted out of wood, and they all had a design carved at the top; one pole had a Milotic's head, while the other two resembled a Gastrodon's.

"If you'll look carefully, you may notice that a flag has been stuck on top of each totem pole," Jirachi said. "It's your job to retrieve that flag! The first two campers who are able to do so will proceed to the absolute final round of this challenge, unless the first two to arrive are Lopunny and Mienshao! Any questions?"

None of the three remaining campers spoke up, so Diancie floated back over to Jirachi and handed him a whistle. "On your marks, get set…" Jirachi called out, holding the whistle to his mouth. "GO!"

Druddigon, Lopunny, and Mienshao all sprinted towards the climbing wall. It was wide enough for each of them to climb at the same time, though just barely; if one of them tried to sabotage another, it would be quite easy to knock them off of the wall. Mienshao glanced over at Druddigon, who was climbing to her left; this was her chance to make a move.

Mienshao swiped at Druddigon with her left arm, but he had evidently anticipated her strike. Druddigon caught her hand in his own, and with one powerful tug, he ripped her from the wall and tossed her back down to the ground. Mienshao landed with a thud and coughed up some dust.

"So that's how we're going to play this, then," Mienshao spat, picking herself up and leaping onto the wall again. She quickly regained the ground that she had lost, though Lopunny and Druddigon had already gotten much higher than her by now.

Unfortunately for Lopunny, she felt her right leg cramping up again, and she stopped briefly to let the pain settle down. After only a few seconds had passed, however, the stone ledge that she was holding onto withdrew itself back into the wall, and she fell down the side of the wall. She let out a surprised shout, but managed to catch herself on another ledge.

Druddigon moved quickly up the side of the wall. Even if he had the lead here, he could easily lose it later; there was no reason for him to get cocky yet. Druddigon felt his hand grip the top of the wall, and he pulled himself over it. On the other side, the balance beam was visible. Druddigon climbed down the other side of the wall and rushed over to it, eyeing the beam carefully to determine the best way to cross it.

"Hurry up, Lopunny!" Mienshao hissed at Lopunny as she climbed past the bunny. Lopunny didn't respond, so Mienshao just scowled and continued on her way. A few seconds later, Lopunny finally resumed the challenge, though she wasn't going anywhere near as fast as she needed to be. Another ledge slipped out from underneath her grasp, and she tumbled downward several feet again.

Mienshao reached the top of the wall without any other trouble and looked down at the pit. Druddigon had begun to cross it, placing one foot in front of the other to make his way across steadily. Mienshao smirked as a devious plan made its way into her head once more, and she quickly descended the wall to put it into play.

Druddigon glanced backwards to see Mienshao approaching the pit. Knowing that she would probably try to sabotage him again if she got close enough, he sped up, closing the distance between himself and the other side of the pit. Mienshao didn't follow him onto the balance beam, however; she merely took one step closer to the pit before stopping.

"This is almost too easy," Mienshao chuckled to herself, shaking her head. She slammed one foot down onto the balance beam, sending a tremor across its entire length. The beam shook underneath Druddigon, causing him to lose his balance. The Cave Pokemon tried to steady himself, but he leaned too far to the right and fell into the mysterious green substance below.

Mienshao wasted no time in attempting to cross the beam herself. Now that Druddigon was no longer an obstacle, it would be easier for her to pass him and secure herself a position beyond the merge. She could hear Druddigon growling from inside the pit as he dug his claws into the side, trying to hoist himself out.

The pit was indeed proving tough to escape. Jirachi hadn't exaggerated the difficulty of the task; Druddigon could feel flames rising in his throat as he struggled to climb out, his temper gradually building. From the corner of his eye, he saw Mienshao make it across the pit. Druddigon gnashed his teeth together and used his claws to painstakingly pull himself from the pit.

By this time, Lopunny had managed to make her way to the top of the wall as well, though she was already far enough behind Druddigon and Mienshao that little hope remained in her mind. Lopunny vaulted herself over the wall and jogged toward the pit, doing her best to ignore the pain in her leg.

Once Lopunny reached the pit, she saw Druddigon recovering from his earlier fall on the other side. The Dragon-type paid Lopunny no attention; his sights were set on catching up to Mienshao and securing a win for his team.

Lopunny stepped onto the balance beam as Druddigon charged off after Mienshao. The weasel had already begun to scale one of the Gastrodons' totem poles, and was a little less than halfway to the top. Druddigon growled in frustration and began to ascend his own totem pole, though his climbing speed was slightly below Mienshao's.

"You might win this challenge," Druddigon grunted, climbing closer to Mienshao, "but as long as I'm faster than Lopunny, we'll settle this in the final challenge. And if you think for a moment that you stand a chance against me, you're going to lose."

"We'll see about that," Mienshao said with a smirk, reaching the top of her pole and plucking the flag from its place at the top. Truthfully, she _was_ concerned that Druddigon might be able to defeat her; Mienshao had hoped at the beginning of the challenge that Lopunny could win for the Gastrodons, but that wasn't seeming likely anymore. She'd have to pull this one off herself.

Just as Lopunny finished crossing the balance beam, Druddigon reached the top of the Milotics' pole and snatched up his pink flag. "And that's a wrap!" Jirachi called out, appearing from nowhere. "Druddigon and Mienshao will compete in the final round of this challenge!"

Diancie appeared next to Lopunny. "You came close, but you won't be participating in the final challenge," the co-host told Lopunny. "You're welcome to wait in camp if you'd like, or watch the final round."

"I'll be heading back to camp," said Lopunny stiffly, walking back to camp gingerly. Diancie nodded and floated over to join Jirachi, who was guiding the two finalists further away from the campsite.

 **-static-**

" **Everything is in Mienshao's hands now," said Lopunny with a frown, setting herself down on the confessional seat gently. "Which is exactly what I was afraid of. Granted, if we lose, she'll still probably go home...but if the hosts hand out any surprise immunity today, it could be pretty bad."**

 **-static-**

Some of the campers had decided to relax in the rec room while the rest of the challenge took place. Noivern peeked her head into the building, and saw Castform and Dusclops conversing in the corner while Reuniclus appeared to be trying to teach Lilligant how to play pool over at the pool table. Chandelure gave Noivern a disapproving look as the bat pushed open the door with her body.

"Close the door already. You're letting cold air in here," Chandelure ordered, returning her gaze to the book she was reading. Noivern stuck out her tongue at the chandelier, but closed the door anyway. She made her way over toward Castform and Dusclops, who waved her over as she approached them.

"Hey, Castform! Whatcha talkin' about with this doofus over here?" Noivern asked, jerking her head towards Dusclops jokingly.

"Nothing important," Castform said dismissively. "But there is something that Dusclops and I actually wanted to discuss with you."

"Oh?" Noivern was interested now. "Really? What is it?"

"We should probably talk somewhere in private," Castform urged Noivern, guiding her toward a more isolated corner of the rec building. Dusclops followed, keeping his eye on the other contestants to make sure none of them were eavesdropping.

Noivern gave Castform and Dusclops a bewildered look as they hid in a secluded corner of the room. "Is there a reason we're being all secretive right now?" Noivern asked curiously. "'Cause usually normal, friendly talks take place out in the open."

"It's about Mawile," said Dusclops hurriedly, getting straight to the point. Castform decided to let him explain, since he'd already begun. "I think she might have betrayed me in the last voting ceremony."

"You were working with Mawile?" asked Noivern. She looked even more shocked than Castform had upon hearing the news.

Dusclops looked hurt. "Well, yeah. I have friends outside of you two, you know," he said. "Cryogonal and I agreed to work with her a little while ago. But I think she voted out Cryogonal last time, and I don't know what she'll do next. I don't even know what I should do next."

Noivern seemed puzzled. "Well, I don't really know what you expect me to do about that," she said, scratching her head. "I usually try to stay out of other people's business, but…"

"I just want to ask you a favor," Dusclops explained to her. "I'm asking both you and Castform to vote with me tonight if we lose. I want to determine where Mawile's allegiance lies, and if she's really voting with someone else. If you help me out tonight, I'll make it up to you later somehow."

"Sure," agreed Noivern instantly. "We're your friends, dude! Of course we'll help."

"Yeah," said Castform, more calmly than her companion. "Even if Mawile tries to stab you in the back, we're here to make sure she doesn't succeed."

"Unless at least four other Pokemon vote for you," Noivern pointed out. "Because realistically, that's totally possible and all."

"Probably not a great time to bring that up," Castform said, flashing Noivern a look. "But she does have a point. We still need to be careful not to make ourselves targets."

"Well, yeah. That's the gist of how this show works," Dusclops replied. He stood up and gave Castform and Noivern a grateful nod. "Thanks for agreeing to this, guys. I'm hoping we won't even need to worry about an elimination tonight, but our luck's been rather foul lately, so...better safe than sorry."

"No problem, dude! Don't go getting yourself eliminated anytime soon, you hear?" Noivern said jokingly, cracking a grin at Dusclops. He returned the smile, a bit weakly, and ventured out of the rec room without another word. Castform watched him leave, their last conversation still on her mind.

 **-static-**

" **To be honest, I don't think any of us really know what to do about the Mawile situation," Castform confessed. "I don't know what to tell Dusclops because I don't even know what** _ **I'd**_ **do in that situation. I just hope everything works out okay."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon and Vaporeon were sitting in a different section of the rec building, lounging on a sofa while a bizarre horror movie played in the background. Interestingly enough, the horror movie seemed to be about sock monkeys; however, it was rather unimpressive otherwise.

"Man, I can't wait for there to not be teams anymore," Vaporeon admitted to Jolteon. "You have NO idea how much drama there can be on my team sometimes."

"Haha...I think I do, actually," said Jolteon, rubbing his head. "Word gets around quickly."

"Yeah, but imagine sleeping in the same cabin as everyone involved in that drama," Vaporeon told him. "It gets super uncomfortable sometimes. Whenever Mienshao and Lilligant are both in there, it's dead silence."

"I guess I'm glad I'm not on the Gastrodons, then," Jolteon murmured. "Although we do have to put up with Druddigon. That isn't exactly what I'd call fun."

"Druddigon doesn't seem so bad," Vaporeon remarked. "I mean, he seems like a bit of a stickler, but at least he's a useful player."

Jolteon was about to reply, but the sound of booming thunder coming from the TV interrupted him. Jolteon and Vaporeon simultaneously stared at the TV as the movie's narration resumed. "SUDDENLY, THERE WAS A LOT OF THUNDER, AND THE SOCK MONKEY WAS _DEAD._ "

Several seconds of silence followed. "This entire movie's plot sounds like something Escavalier would come up with on a more sane day," Jolteon commented.

Vaporeon giggled and shifted closer to him on the sofa. Jolteon smiled to himself and tentatively wrapped a paw around her. The two of them stayed like this for a while, watching the movie in silence.

 **-static-**

At the edge of the lake, Jirachi and Diancie finally stopped Druddigon and Mienshao. "This is where your last challenge before the merge will take place," Jirachi told them calmly. "You two have proven your skill not only in today's challenge, but in challenges past as well. This final challenge will determine which one of you will safely make it to the merge, so it's in your best interest to give this last challenge everything you've got!"

Mienshao and Druddigon stared each other down intensely. Neither of them had any intent to let the other win, especially with their positions in the competition at stake. Druddigon clenched his fists tightly—knowing that he had been in the bottom two twice recently, this would be his last chance to earn immunity before teams were no longer an issue.

On the other hand, Mienshao was also aware that she wasn't popular among her own teammates; winning this challenge would be essential to her own safety in the game as well. Summoning whatever courage she had, Mienshao fixed Druddigon with an arrogant smirk. "Ready to go home, Druddigon?" she asked.

"I've made it this far. I can handle anything you throw at me," he replied smoothly, sizing up his opponent.

"I'm glad you're both ready!" Jirachi said enthusiastically. "Over the course of this challenge, I'd say you've both had quite a warm-up, wouldn't you agree? Maybe it's time to let some of that energy out!"

"Your final challenge is…" Diancie began, but Jirachi cut her off, not wanting anyone to steal this announcement away from him.

"A BATTLE!" Jirachi said, thrusting his arms into the air. "That's right! And I'm quite excited, too, because neither of you were able to display your talents during our little tournament! This is a chance to discover which one of you is truly stronger!"

"The rules are as follows: only four moves are allowed to be used, and the first Pokemon to be rendered unconscious loses," Diancie stated. "Other than that, the two of you are allowed to be as creative as you want."

Druddigon gave Mienshao an intimidating glare. In an ordinary battle, he had no doubt that he could overpower Mienshao. But he also knew that she wasn't above cheap tricks—he'd play dirty if he had to.

"If there aren't any questions, which I'm assuming there aren't, the fight will commence after a countdown!" Jirachi shouted. Neither Druddigon nor Mienshao spoke up, so Jirachi began counting. "THREE! TWO! ONE!"

Jirachi brought his hand down suddenly. "FIGHT!" he called. The two hosts backed up to give Druddigon and Mienshao some space to combat each other, but the two Pokemon seemed to be busy trying to figure out how to tackle the situation.

"Are you going to wait around forever, or are you going to fight me?" Mienshao taunted the Cave Pokemon. Druddigon growled angrily, and his mouth lit up in an instant. Druddigon unleashed a roaring Flamethrower in Mienshao's direction, but when he looked to see if it hit, he noticed that she had dodged to the side.

"You'll have to be quicker than that!" Mienshao shouted at him, rushing forward and swiping at him with one arm. Druddigon deftly raised his own arm, effortlessly blocking her attack and countering with a solid strike of his own. Mienshao doubled over as his fist made contact with her gut.

"You speak as though you think you can win," Druddigon said, giving her a disdainful glare. "Yet I have not seen anything that indicates your ability to do so. You talk a big game, but you don't have the skill to match mine."

He picked Mienshao up roughly and threw her back down to the ground forcefully. Mienshao's breath was knocked out of her as she hit the sand, and she coughed loudly before trying to get back up. Druddigon didn't give her a chance, grabbing her by the legs and once more throwing her, this time into the water.

Mienshao didn't have the luxury of taking the time to think out her moves, so she instinctively swam to shore and dodged to the side as Druddigon attempted to stomp on her arm. She got to her feet just as he turned around and unleashed another furious Flamethrower; this time, it singed part of her arm, and she let out a pained hiss.

Druddigon stepped forward and slashed at her with his claws. Mienshao reacted quickly enough to duck underneath his claws, but he followed up by knocking her feet out from under her with his tail. Mienshao hit the sand again and stared up at the sky helplessly.

"I had the impression before that you were one of the Gastrodons' strongest players," Druddigon growled harshly. "Perhaps I was mistaken."

Mienshao felt a surge of anger rush through her, and she sprang back to her feet in an instant. Before Druddigon could react, she hit him in the face with one of her fists, draining some of his energy in the process. Druddigon reeled back from her Drain Punch, but recovered quickly; it would take more than a single attack to faze him.

Fortunately for Mienshao, she had the advantage of speed on her side. She followed up her Drain Punch with an Aura Sphere, sending the projectile at him from afar. Druddigon allowed his arms to act as a shield, blocking the brunt of the attack once more. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mienshao moving in on him from the left.

Druddigon swiveled on his feel and lashed out at Mienshao with his tail once she was within range. She jumped over his tail and planted both of her feet into his chest, kicking him backwards and knocking him to the ground. Druddigon growled angrily and rose to his feet swiftly to block Mienshao from hitting him again.

Mienshao laughed as Druddigon's expression grew more dire. "Not so tough now, are you?" she asked confidently. "You're strong, I'll grant you that. But I can move faster than you can attack. You have no chance of winning against me!"

Mienshao leapt into the air and aimed another kick at Druddigon, this time connecting with his head. Druddigon staggered backwards and finally lost his cool, letting out an enraged roar that even frightened Mienshao a bit.

Druddigon took a menacing step towards Mienshao, his jaw glowing with the light of a readied Flamethrower. "I did not make it this far to lose to you," he scowled, fixing her with a ruthless glare. "Nor do I have the intention of losing to anyone here. Do you even know _why_ I came to this island?"

Flames erupted from the dragon's mouth, and Mienshao nimbly rolled out of the way before getting to her feet. Druddigon's chest heaved as his breathing grew faster; he blasted another Flamethrower at Mienshao furiously, but she managed to escape unscathed a second time.

Getting up close to Druddigon was proving to be a tricky act, so Mienshao fired off an array of Aura Spheres at him at range. Druddigon blasted the projectiles in midair with another fiery burst before charging at Mienshao, his claws extended. Mienshao braced herself for his attack, not moving aside this time.

Druddigon slashed at her with both claws this time, but rather than dodging, Mienshao countered by grabbing his arms and slamming into his chest with her whole body. The momentum sent them both tumbling backwards, but Mienshao was able to recover first. As Druddigon struggled to get up, Mienshao whirled around and kicked him in the back of the head again.

Druddigon elicited another fearsome roar and grabbed Mienshao's leg as she was bringing it back towards her body. He whipped her body over his own and slammed her down on the other side before pummeling her with both fists. As Mienshao tried to get up, Druddigon held her in place with his claws, digging them into her shoulders to make it harder for her to escape.

Mienshao let out a pained gasp as Druddigon drove his claws deeper into her shoulders. "Perhaps your team considered you strong," Druddigon growled deeply. "But I can see for myself now that your strength is nothing more than a facade. You may be a master of deception and betrayal, but I have no intention of becoming a victim. I will not be so foolish as to let your deeds go unpunished."

Without warning, Druddigon slammed a fist into Mienshao's face. She let out a pained cry, but he refused to let up, hitting her once more with a closed fist. Mienshao closed her eyes and prepared for a third blow, but it did not come; instead, the pressure of Druddigon's claws was relieved as the dragon stood up.

He wiped his hands along his legs and cast a distasteful glance at Mienshao. "Now, if you wish to finish this fight with some honor, I will grant you that," Druddigon rumbled deeply. Mienshao stared at Druddigon, unsure what she should make of his words. Even Jirachi and Diancie seemed surprised with every new turn of events in this fight; it had not played out at all like either had expected it to.

Slowly, Mienshao got to her feet. Her stance was shaky, but she put up her fists. Druddigon did the same, though his gaze was unreadable. Mienshao weakly lunged at Druddigon, firing off a few punches at his torso. Druddigon didn't bother to deflect her attacks, instead retaliating by shoving her backwards and shooting several small embers from his mouth. The embers collided with the ground by Mienshao's feet, but she managed to avoid being hit.

Mienshao took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She was still in the fight. And unless she was knocked out, there was still a chance to defeat Druddigon. Mienshao waited for Druddigon to make a move; he appeared to be doing the same, as there was a brief lapse of action as both Pokemon stared each other down.

Finally, Druddigon decided to go on the offensive. He slashed the air with one claw this time before aiming his next slash at Mienshao. She pulled her body backwards, just out of range of his reach, and hit Druddigon across the face with a Drain Punch. Druddigon scowled and took a step back, but as he looked up at Mienshao again, he realized she looked somewhat revitalized.

"I'll give you some advice of my own while we're at it: never underestimate your opponent," Mienshao growled, rushing forward and hitting Druddigon with another Drain Punch. He raised his arms to block it, but she knew his fighting style by now; she aimed lower, and hit his chest instead. Druddigon staggered back, and Mienshao didn't let up; she hit him with blow after blow, absorbing more of his energy each time.

Druddigon finally dropped to one knee. He let out a weakened grunt and watched as Mienshao approached him. "I may have used some questionable methods to get this far," Mienshao whispered as she bent down in front of him. "But I have no intention of losing, either."

With these last words, Mienshao struck Druddigon with a powerful final blow. The Dragon-type collapsed at her feet, and Mienshao looked to the hosts expectantly.

"Uh...we have a winner!" called Jirachi after recovering from the initial shock of what just happened. "Mienshao pulls off a win for the Gastrodons, meaning the Milotics will be showing up to tonight's ceremony...for the fifth time in a row!"

"Jirachi, none of the other campers are here," Diancie reminded him, pointing to the nearly empty beach. "We have to head back to camp to make the announcement."

"Right," Jirachi agreed. "Of course. Diancie, go wake Druddigon up, and I'll round up the campers!"

Diancie gave Jirachi a mock salute and levitated over to Mienshao and Druddigon, both of whom were sporting several bruises after the fight. Mienshao began walking back to camp as Diancie worked on waking up Druddigon.

 **-static-**

" **I did it. I made it to the merge," said Mienshao, facing the camera. She didn't appear proud at all, but rather tired. "No more Great Gastrodons. No more need to beg for votes during elimination ceremonies. No more of the old Mienshao."**

 **Mienshao leaned forward, giving the camera a solemn look. "It's time to get serious."**

 **-static-**

"ATTENTION, MARVELOUS MILOTICS! REPORT TO THE CAMPFIRE PIT TONIGHT! THE GREAT GASTRODONS HAVE CLAIMED THEIR LAST VICTORY!" Jirachi announced over the intercom system. Chatot groaned as he heard the announcement; he had hoped that Druddigon would win against Mienshao and reset their losing streak, but apparently they'd had no such luck.

"Hear that, buddy? We won!" Clauncher exclaimed to Combusken as the bird quietly ate some berries. "That means no one has to go home!"

"It just means that someone from the Milotics is going home instead," said Beedrill bitterly, joining them at their cafeteria table. "Which means Mienshao is staying another round."

"At least none of us are going home, though," Combusken pointed out. "Isn't that something to be happy about? We all made it to the merge."

"Yeah! Come on, Beedrill. I know you wanted Mienshao out, but honestly, she doesn't stand a chance once the merge hits!" Clauncher assured the bug. Beedrill didn't look impressed. "Nobody on the island likes Mienshao. All we have to do is convince a few Milotics and BAM, she's on the next Lapras home!"

Clauncher leaned back in his seat and took a sip from his glass of lemonade. "And in the meantime, we can celebrate the fact that we've all made it to the merge!"

"I like the sound of that," said Combusken timidly. "I-I mean, we all worked hard to get here."

"We sure did," Clauncher said with a smile. He turned to Beedrill. "So maybe we just enjoy ourselves for once, all right?"

Beedrill let out a defeated sigh. "All right," he agreed. "There's nothing we can do to change the outcome, anyway. Might as well make the best of it."

"Now you're talking!" Clauncher said, grinning. He hoisted his glass of lemonade into the air. "Here's to the merge, boys!"

"Neither of us have drinks," Combusken reminded Clauncher hesitantly.

Clauncher lowered his glass awkwardly and cleared his throat. "You are correct," the crustacean mumbled.

 **-static-**

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Druddigon and Mienshao weren't seen around camp much; neither of them had any interest in talking to their teammates, and the tension from their fight still lingered in the air.

As the sun began to set, the members of the Marvelous Milotics headed down to the campfire pit for their last elimination ceremony together. The eight Milotics slowly gathered at the pit, seating themselves appropriately. The atmosphere was tense; many of the Milotics had different ideas about who should be sent home, but nobody knew who it would ultimately be.

Eventually, Jirachi and Diancie made their appearance before the campers. "Okay, everyone! You know the drill. It's your fifth time in a row doing this, so no explanation should be required," Jirachi said with a chuckle. "Vote for whoever you want. After this, teams will be a thing of the past, so make your choices accordingly."

"We'll leave you to it," Diancie said. The campers began heading off towards the confessional to write down their votes, but Mawile felt a hand clasp around her arm as she walked. She turned around to see Dusclops standing behind her.

"Oh, hey," Mawile said. "I haven't seen you all day. Where were you?"

"We need to talk," said Dusclops, wearing a serious expression. Mawile, uncertain of what he was referring to, followed him cautiously as he led her behind a cluster of trees.

Mawile leaned against a tree with her back and crossed her arms. "What's bothering you?" she asked, eyeing him curiously.

Dusclops merely stared at her for a few seconds before Mawile noticed movement from either side of her field of vision. Noivern and Castform flanked Dusclops from each side, forming what could almost be considered a wall around Mawile. The Steel-type looked confused by the sudden appearance of these two, and turned to Dusclops to ask why they were here.

Dusclops held up a hand to silence her. "We're just here to ask you one question. That's it," he said simply. "Did you have a hand in eliminating Cryogonal?"

Mawile stared at him in disbelief before shaking her head. "No! Why would I do that?" she asked. "I've been working with you and Cryogonal for a while now, or at least until he left. But I swear, I didn't vote him out!"

Dusclops looked torn upon hearing this. "...Okay," he muttered quietly. "Sorry for accusing you, then. See you at the ceremony."

Without another word, Dusclops and his two friends departed toward the confessional. Mawile stared after them in confusion. What was that about?

 **-static-**

" **It doesn't add up. Mawile either voted with or against us," Dusclops murmured to himself. "If she voted with us, Druddigon should have been gone. But that's not what happened."**

 **The ghost let out an unhappy sigh. "I'm sorry, Mawile, but at this point I can't afford to trust you anymore."**

 **-static-**

" **I'm still not a hundred percent sure what this Mawile drama is all about, but Dusclops and Castform are telling me not to trust her," said Noivern with a shrug. "And I guess I trust them more than I trust her, so...yeah."**

 **-static-**

" **I don't understand what brought this on," Mawile confessed. She wore a concerned expression, and was wringing her hands nervously. "Does Dusclops not trust me anymore? I can't think of any reason I've given him not to. The only things I hid from him were my alliance with Scrafty, and my agreement with Cryogonal last elimination ceremony. He shouldn't have had any idea about either of those."**

 **Mawile stared at the wall, deep in thought. "Unless Cryogonal told him that we switched our votes before we left...but nobody stands to gain anything from that. I can't make any sense of this."**

 **-static-**

"Let's discuss our options here," Druddigon muttered in his low voice, pacing back and forth in front of Chandelure. "We're at a difficult point in the game. Right now, the chances of either of us being eliminated are higher than they ever have been."

"They are," Chandelure agreed, though she didn't sound worried in the slightest. "But unlike you, I'm hardly a prime target."

Druddigon stared at her fiercely. "Exactly. Which is why we need to come up with a plan to help me get past the merge," he explained.

"Or I could just let you be eliminated," Chandelure stated coldly.

Druddigon's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"Let's face the facts, Druddigon. You've outlived your usefulness. After the merge, everyone will still want to eliminate you—you've made the mistake of making yourself known as a powerful player too early," Chandelure explained. "This alliance was doomed to fail from the start. It doesn't matter if I save you tonight, because odds are you'll be gone in a week's time regardless."

Druddigon opened his mouth to reply, but Chandelure cut him off. "You need me far more than I need you," Chandelure said smoothly. "So this is where we part ways, Druddigon. Say your goodbyes."

"What, do you think I'm just some mere pawn to be tossed aside at your whim?" Druddigon spat angrily. "I'M the reason you made it this far. Without me, your plan to eliminate Cryogonal couldn't have possibly succeeded."

"You're right. But like I said, you've outlived your usefulness. I don't need you any longer," Chandure droned. "Quite frankly, I never did care for you anyway. You were a means to an end, not a partner of mine."

Chandelure turned her back to Druddigon and drifted away from their meeting spot. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you," she said, chuckling coldly.

Druddigon clenched his fists furiously, resisting the urge to chase after her. He should have expected this from Chandelure, but once again, his judgment had failed him. Druddigon rose from his seat and headed to the confessional, prepared to change his vote.

 **-static-**

"Welcome, Marvelous Milotics, to your last elimination ceremony as a team!" Jirachi announced excitedly. "Man, it feels nice to finally make some progress! Anyways, tonight's votes were pretty interesting—I think you're all in for a treat!"

The eight Milotics sitting before Jirachi did not mirror his enthusiasm. Jolteon and Chatot were the most relaxed of the bunch, but even they wore serious expressions. Castform and Noivern were casting wary glances at both Dusclops and Mawile, while Druddigon was fixing Chandelure with an absolutely terrifying glare. Jirachi smiled to himself and twirled the tray of Pokeblocks on his finger.

"If I call your name, come on up," Jirachi began. "Chatot."

The bird tipped his hat to Jirachi kindly and accepted his Pokeblock. "Castform," Jirachi called out next. The Normal-type levitated up and claimed her Pokeblock quickly, rushing back to her seat afterward.

"Dusclops and...Jolteon," Jirachi said, flicking Pokeblocks at each of them. Dusclops caught his and looked down at the ground, while Jolteon grinned at Chatot.

"Noivern, you're good to go as well," Jirachi informed her. Noivern exhaled in relief and flew up to take her Pokeblock from the host. "However, the three of you remaining received at least one vote tonight."

Mawile, Druddigon, and Chandelure were the only ones remaining. Chandelure seemed unfazed to be in the bottom three again, but both Druddigon and Mawile wore worried expressions. Jirachi smirked and tossed a Pokeblock up and down in one hand.

"I'll cut to the chase. Chandelure, you're safe again," Jirachi announced, throwing her a Pokeblock. Druddigon swore under his breath as he heard her name; the odds were not looking good for him, especially if he was being pitted against Mawile.

Mawile wasn't certain why anyone would want to vote for her, but after having Dusclops approach her, she didn't feel safe at all tonight. She crossed her fingers and hoped that the next name Jirachi called would be hers.

"The last Pokeblock of the night goes to…" Jirachi paused dramatically, holding up the last Pokeblock.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"...Mawile," Jirachi concluded, tossing her the Pokeblock. Mawile let out a deep sigh of relief, while Druddigon buried his face in his hands.

"Druddigon, it's the end of the line for you, buddy! Sorry to see you go, especially after your fantastic performance today," Jirachi admitted. "But such is the nature of the game! Confessional's that way, so make your last one count!"

Druddigon stood up silently. It was evident to everyone that he was having difficulty not punching something out of anger, but he managed to walk off to the confessional before any outbursts could happen.

 **-static-**

" **I'm out," Druddigon muttered, as if he couldn't quite believe that it had just happened. "I thought I'd at least make it to the top ten, but my team let me down."**

 **A scowl made its way onto his face. "I suppose I can't entirely blame them—I am a threat in this game. Voting me out is a strategic move, now that teams aren't around to influence that decision. It makes sense, as much as I hate it. It feels like I'm being eliminated** _ **because**_ **I was a good player, and I can't stand that."**

 **Druddigon shook his head. "But it doesn't matter. My efforts got me this far, but they weren't enough. All I can hope for is that Chandelure finally gets what's coming to her," he rumbled bitterly. "She's cunning, all right—enough that even I was fooled. I can only hope the others don't make the same mistake."**

 **He stood up and pushed open the confessional door. "I've had enough of this show. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that I'm allowed to leave," he muttered, walking out.**

 **-static-**

Druddigon walked down to the docks, rolling his suitcase behind him. A lone Lapras awaited him at the docks, and he climbed onto its shell without a word.

Druddigon heaved a sigh and turned to say his last words to the other contestants. When he turned, however, the docks remained empty. Druddigon exhaled quietly and signaled for the Lapras to leave, casting one last look at the island before leaving empty handed.

 **-static-**

" **I know I should feel relieved that I made it to the merge," Mawile confessed. "But after what happened with Dusclops, I don't know how to feel. I almost thought for a moment that I could have been going home instead of Druddigon. Thankfully that wasn't the case, but I need to clear things up with Dusclops before this gets any worse."**

 **-static-**

The cafeteria was silent this late in the evening. Only one camper was inside, sitting at the Gastrodons' table looking exhausted. Her ears perked up as she heard the cafeteria doors open, and she glanced over to see Lilligant walking in.

"Lopunny, there you are," Lilligant said, greeting her teammate. She sat down across from the Rabbit Pokemon, but she could quickly observe that Lopunny was still not feeling well. "Look, I don't mean to pry, but...what's wrong?"

"It's…never mind," Lopunny began, but she sighed, stopping herself before she finished her thought. "I'm just having a bad day, that's all."

Lilligant gave her friend a sympathetic smile. "We all have some of those," she said softly. "I may not know exactly what's on your mind right now, but I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

Lopunny was quiet for a moment, but eventually she returned Lilligant's smile, even if hers was a bit forced. "Thank you," said Lopunny. "But I think I just need some time alone right now."

Lilligant nodded in response and wandered out of the cafeteria, leaving Lopunny to her thoughts. Lopunny rested her head on the cafeteria table and closed her eyes.

Quiet crying sounded from the cafeteria, but no one heard it.

* * *

There you have it! I know this wasn't the most upbeat chapter by any means, but hey, it's the middle of the story. This is when all the drama happens. Deal with it.

Let's talk about the eliminated contestant, Druddigon. I had the intention of delving more into his backstory to explore _why_ he acts the way he does, but this unfortunately didn't fit into my final plans and the majority of that idea got cut. I'm hoping to touch on some of that later, but only time will tell.

Now, the fight between Druddigon and Mienshao was something I've been wanting to write for a while. Both of them were originally supposed to compete in the tournament challenge, but after I trimmed the number of competitors in that challenge down from sixteen to eight, a lot of fight scenes I had planned never saw the light of day. This was sort of a way to incorporate one of those fights, and also a way to emphasize a conflict between two characters who basically had to fight each other to stay in the competition—whichever one lost was likely to go home.

And other sorts of drama are popping up all over the place, too! Now Mawile has found herself caught up in a mess she barely understands thanks to Dusclops and Castform's shoddy detective work, and Lopunny has become a mess of emotions this chapter. Hopefully everyone's just having a bad day.

Before we wrap this up, I have an announcement to make! The poll that I removed from my profile a while ago, in which you could vote for your favorite characters, has now returned! It exists purely for the sake of fun and to satisfy the curiosity of anyone who wants to know which characters are the most popular. I encourage you to vote in it if you're enjoying the story.

That is all I have to say for now! Stay tuned for future chapters, and if you're ever curious about how much progress I've made on the next one, feel free to send me a message! I'm hoping this will be an easier way to communicate with people that I'm still working on new chapters, even when I haven't updated in a while.

Thanks for reading!

Druddigon: Leave a review, or I'll burn your house down.


	18. Treasure Trial Trickery

Hey there. It's been a few months, but the next chapter is finally here! I apologize for how long these have been taking—I'm trying to get back on a somewhat regular schedule (no promises, of course). On the bright side, school is out for the summer, so there may be more frequent updates for the next few months.

Oh, and before I forget to mention it, we have poll results! The first votes place Beedrill, Seviper, Chandelure, Lopunny, and Noivern in the lead—if you haven't voted for your favorite characters yet, now's your chance.

Anyways, here's the chapter. Thanks for being patient, and enjoy.

* * *

"Diancie, do you ever ask yourself how we can make this show more interesting?"

Jirachi spun his swivel chair around to face Diancie, who was sitting over at a desk on the far side of the room. The two of them were in the planning phase of future challenges, but were having some difficulty coming up with new ideas.

"I suppose," Diancie admitted, tapping her chin with a pencil. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I think I've figured out what we're missing," Jirachi stated. He rolled his chair closer to Diancie's and slammed his hands down on the desk, startling her. "The luck factor!"

Diancie stared at him blankly. "The luck factor?" she repeated back to him.

"We need an element of surprise! Something beyond our control, something that can turn the competition upside down!" Jirachi went on. "Something random that can change the stakes."

"You want a luck-based challenge?" Diancie prompted him.

"Absolutely!" said Jirachi, flashing her a dazzling smile. "It'll be great! And I think I have just the idea."

Diancie leaned her head against one hand and turned to face her co-host. "I'm listening," she said.

 **-static-**

In the female Milotics' cabin, Chandelure was enjoying some solitude while Noivern, Castform, and Mawile were out. Despite the merging of the two teams, cabin arrangements had not changed; Chandelure would likely be with these three until the end of the game, or until one of them left.

She turned the page of her book in silence, and her eyes swept across the next page immediately. Although Chandelure was buried in another book as usual, her mind was far from focused on the content of her reading. Instead, her thoughts were concentrated on who her next target should be.

Now that the members of the Great Gastrodons were eligible for elimination, Mienshao would be an obvious and easy choice to eliminate. It wouldn't take much to sway voters towards voting out the least trustworthy Pokemon on the island, but Chandelure also acknowledged that eliminating Mienshao wouldn't serve much of a purpose. Mienshao had become a solo player by this point, and as such, presented no real threat to her. Campers that still retained alliances from before the merge would cause the most trouble, Chandelure figured.

Chandelure leaned back in her bed as she mentally counted the number of remaining alliances. Chatot and Jolteon were still a variable to be considered, as were Castform and Noivern, though Chandelure hardly considered the latter pair a threat.

Her eyes narrowed as she recalled another potential threat from the other team: Beedrill's alliance. Chandelure had no concrete proof that Beedrill was working with Reuniclus and Clauncher, but if social cues were anything to go by, it was fairly obvious that they were at least friends. And if they really _were_ in an alliance together, they would present the biggest threat thus far, at a total of three votes.

Noise from outside the cabin distracted Chandelure from her thoughts. She snapped her book shut and stared out the cabin window to see who was causing such a ruckus. Clauncher was out in the center of camp, dodging practice swipes from Combusken as the two of them trained. She chuckled to herself quietly as she set her sights on a new target.

 **-static-**

" **If I can take anyone from Beedrill's alliance out of the picture, the number of major alliance threats drops significantly," Chandelure mused. "The downside to losing Druddigon last ceremony is that I'm back down to one vote, but he wouldn't have lasted anyway. I need a new partner if I'm going to continue down this path."**

 **She gave the camera a knowing look. "I may just have an idea of where to start looking, too," she murmured, eyeing the confessional door. She pushed it open and exited hastily.**

 **-static-**

Clauncher shot to the side abruptly, breaking out of an Aqua Jet in midair and landing gracefully across from Combusken. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, buddy!" Clauncher shouted to his friend. "I'm a moving target! Using inaccurate moves like Sky Uppercut to try and hit me when I'm moving around isn't going to work."

Combusken sighed and walked closer to Clauncher. "Yeah...look, Clauncher, I don't really know if this is working," the fowl muttered dejectedly. "We've been training for a few days, but I've never even come close to beating you."

"Well, yeah, but that's because I'm a Water-type," Clauncher pointed out. "Look, you've already learned a bunch of new moves way faster than anyone normally should. You've practically mastered Sky Uppercut in half the time anyone of your species ordinarily would!"

Combusken glanced up at Clauncher in surprise. "Really?" he asked.

Clauncher chuckled. "Yeah, man! You're a natural," Clauncher told his friend. "You just need to learn which moves are right in each situation. If you second-guess yourself in the middle of a fight, your opponent is going to take advantage of that. Half the battle is not giving up."

Combusken scratched his head. "Uh, okay," he murmured. "You wanna go again?"

Clauncher put up his pincers and bounced around in place. "Sure, if you're up for another round," Clauncher offered. "Let's work on your accuracy. You're missing a lot of moves, and I think I've figured out why."

Combusken nodded eagerly, and Clauncher walked over to Combusken to give him some pointers. Vaporeon, who had returned from a quick swim at the lake, waved to the two of them before entering her cabin.

 **-static-**

" **I still can't believe I made it this far," Vaporeon said in disbelief. "It's pretty surreal to have made it over halfway in a show like this. When I signed up, I imagined I'd be gone kind of quickly, but this show has honestly been a really fun experience. I'm having a blast now that I don't have to worry about all that team drama anymore!"**

 **Vaporeon let out an excited shout, unable to contain herself. "And look at me now! I made it to the merge! Woo!"**

 **-static-**

At the cafeteria, about a quarter of the campers were eating breakfast. Castform was munching on some toast alone at one table as Vaporeon walked in and sat down by Lilligant. At the other end of the table that used to occupied by the Gastrodons were Reuniclus and Beedrill, who were both discussing topics quietly enough that no one else could hear.

"So, uh...do we have a game plan?" Reuniclus asked Beedrill, hunched over the table. "Now that it's the merge and all?"

"I didn't think anything had changed enough to merit a new plan," Beedrill admitted, tapping his needles on the table rhythmically. "We take out Mienshao and any other Pokemon who pose a threat to us."

Reuniclus shrugged. "That's not a bad plan, but I think we do need to amend it a bit, given that both teams are merged now," Reuniclus mentioned. "We're sort of venturing into unknown territory here; we don't know how the Milotics' votes will affect the outcome of voting ceremonies."

"That's true," Beedrill hummed, stabbing a piece of toast with one needle. "So do you actually have any ideas, or are you here to consult me?"

"The latter, more or less," Reuniclus admitted. "I'm not sure what to make of the Milotics. I know that Chandelure, Noivern, and Chatot are all threats. Maybe Jolteon and Mawile, too. But I'm not sure how we're supposed to handle them."

"We'll deal with them as they come," Beedrill answered nonchalantly. "Until then, I don't see any point in trying to target any of them. Besides, we agreed when we formed this alliance not to target anyone."

"Says the one who wants to get rid of Mienshao," Reuniclus reminded Beedrill, giving him a subtle smirk.

Beedrill rolled his eyes. "I'm willing to make exceptions," the bug responded. "She has it coming."

"I never said I disagreed," Reuniclus said, putting his hands up. "Personally, I think it's kind of disappointing that we didn't lose last time. She definitely would have gone home if we did."

"There will still be plenty of chances to eliminate her," Beedrill stated. "We don't know what surprises the merge holds for us. It's possible that another opportunity could present itself, but we'll have to bide our time until then."

"Agreed," said Reuniclus, getting up from the table. "See you later, I guess?"

Beedrill gave Reuniclus a curt nod as the Psychic-type got up to leave the cafeteria. Reuniclus returned his empty tray to Diancie with a smile and headed outside to seek out Clauncher.

However, he was stopped by Mawile as he floated to the door. "Sorry to bother you," she said quickly. "Have you seen Dusclops around?"

"Not that I can think of," Reuniclus replied, though her urgency piqued his curiosity. He had seen Mawile wandering about camp earlier, but he hadn't the faintest idea what she was doing at the time. "Why do you ask?"

"I've just been looking for him," Mawile said, as if that much wasn't obvious. "If you see him, tell him to meet me by the cabins later."

"Uh, okay. Will do," said Reuniclus, giving her a nod. Mawile smiled at him gratefully before peeking inside the cafeteria. After reaching the conclusion that Dusclops was not inside, she headed off towards the rec room.

 **-static-**

"What do you think I should do about Mawile?"

Noivern glanced up at a visibly distressed Dusclops, who was pacing back and forth in front of her. Noivern had invited him to the rec room to relax for the morning, but Noivern was beginning to think that Dusclops didn't get the memo about the relaxing part. She sighed and turned to face him.

"Look, man, I dunno. If it were me in your place, I'd probably just talk it out with her," Noivern said bluntly. "I doubt it's anything that can't be resolved with words."

Dusclops didn't seem convinced. "No, that's exactly the problem. I think she's been lying to me in the past, so I can't exactly take her words at face value," he mumbled. "It's not as simple as that."

"Then I don't know what you're talking to me for," Noivern said with a shrug. She glanced over at the TV across the room, which was playing some obscure old movie in black and white. "You should probably talk to Castform about this stuff. She's actually pretty smart."

"Yeah, maybe," Dusclops muttered halfheartedly. "I already talked to her about it yesterday, though."

Noivern eagerly leaned forward in her seat, accidentally knocking a small lamp to her left on its side. "Well, what was her advice?"

"Talk to Mawile," Dusclops said, staring down at the floor.

An awkward silence passed between the two as Noivern tried to think of what to say. "Oh," Noivern responded finally. "Well, that's a bummer."

"Yep," Dusclops muttered weakly. He gave Noivern a hopeless look with his one eye, and Noivern suddenly felt bad for being unable to help him.

The wyvern hopped out of her seat and gave the saddened specter a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "It'll be okay, man," she reassured him, forcing herself to give him a smile. "We'll get this all sorted out, one way or another!"

Dusclops's doubts still lingered, but he nodded numbly. "You think you're good to go for at least a little bit?" Noivern asked him. "I think we're having a challenge today, and you can't be all mopey or you'll get eliminated."

"I'll manage," Dusclops said, though his expression didn't change. Noivern gave him another quick pat and flew toward the exit just as the intercom blared loudly.

"HELLO, CAMPERS! I ASSUME YOU'VE ALL BEEN ENJOYING THESE PAST FEW DAYS OFF," Jirachi's voice rang out. "BUT THERE IS NO MORE TIME FOR REST! GET READY TO BEGIN YOUR FIRST INDEPENDENT CHALLENGE!"

Noivern covered up her ears as the intercom screeched slightly. "SORRY ABOUT THAT. THE SYSTEM'S A LITTLE FINICKY AT THE MOMENT, SO WE'RE HAVING CONKELDURR TAKE A LOOK AT IT," Jirachi apologized. "ANYWAYS, CHALLENGES FROM HERE ON OUT WILL BE DETERMINED BY YOU AND YOU ALONE! WITH THAT IN MIND, TODAY'S CHALLENGE SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY EXCITING, SO GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE PRONTO!"

"Looks like that's our cue!" Noivern exclaimed. She grabbed Dusclops by the hand and yanked him outside. "C'mon, Dusclops, let's get you back in the game!"

 **-static-**

Only a few minutes passed before all of the campers were gathered in the midst of camp. Jirachi clapped his hands together eagerly and floated down to meet them.

"It's finally that time, everyone! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to get rid of those pesky teams!" Jirachi exclaimed. "Now we can get to the fun stuff! Who's ready for some fun?"

Nobody raised a hand. "I see you've all wisened up," Jirachi said with a smirk. "But what you want doesn't really matter, because I'll indulge you all in the fun anyway! Now, if you'd all follow me…"

Jirachi waved his hand toward the edge of camp, and the campers followed him in a group. Diancie was waiting for them there, and she waved once she caught sight of Jirachi.

What caught the attention of the campers was the assortment of chests behind the co-host. There were sixteen chests in total, the same number as the amount of remaining campers. The chests were similar in appearance to the one Dusclops had fished out of the lake in the first challenge; each of the chests even bore a similar lock on the front.

"Welcome, welcome, one and all, to the first POST-MERGE CHALLENGE!" Jirachi exclaimed dramatically. A well-timed firework went off in the distance, and he flashed the campers a grin. "As you can all see, the _key_ to success in today's challenge is—"

"Let me guesss, it involvesss an actual key?" Seviper cut him off sarcastically.

"An astute observation indeed, Seviper! You would be correct!" Jirachi announced. "This challenge is all about keys! Not unlike the original chest which hid the immunity idol, you'll have to find a key somewhere on the island and use it to open one of these chests!"

Jirachi chuckled to himself. "The real kicker is that nobody who actually _found_ a key is still around, since they both got eliminated," he snickered. "So good luck with that!"

Reuniclus eyed each chest in turn, trying to figure out what the hosts might have hidden inside. "So what exactly is in the chests?" he spoke up, raising his hand.

"That is for us to know, and you to find out!" Jirachi said smugly. "Anyways, it's probably time for us to actually explain what's going on. Diancie, would you like to do the honors?"

"Certainly," Diancie agreed pleasantly. "All right, everyone, listen up! Sixteen keys have been hidden around the island. There are sixteen of you left, and each one of you can only take one key. If you find more than one, you're welcome to give it to someone else or leave it where it is, but you can't take more than one for yourself."

Beedrill listened closely as Diancie continued talking. "The keys are hidden in only a few places on the island. While it may still be challenging to reach some of the keys, none of them should be impossible to find," Diancie explained. "You'll have a chance to find keys in the following places."

She cleared her throat and began listing off locations. "Keys can be found here in camp, in or around the lake, in the forest, or even in the underground tunnels," Diancie stated. "Most keys are hidden from plain sight, but can be found with some careful searching."

"Now, those of you that are more observant have probably noticed something about these chests!" Jirachi said with a grin.

"Three of them are different in color," Chandelure said before anyone else could reply.

"Bingo! Chandelure hit the nail on the head," Jirachi shouted. "As you can see, thirteen of the chests behind me are simply ordinary wooden chests, much like the one you were all accustomed to seeing in the middle of camp."

The host whirled around and gestured at the remaining three chests. "But these three chests are golden!" Jirachi proclaimed. "Anyone want to take a stab at what that means?"

A brief spell of silence followed. "What _does_ that mean?" Noivern finally asked.

"I'm glad you asked, Noivern, because I'm not telling you!" Jirachi giggled gleefully. "Ooh, isn't that just downright devilish? The purpose of these three golden chests will be explained after the challenge!"

"All you need to know is that if you find a golden key, it opens one of these three special chests," Diancie informed the campers. "The golden chests contain different items than the wooden chests, but like Jirachi said, the difference will be explained once all of the keys are found."

"So our job is to find a key and bring it back to camp, and the challenge is over once everyone finds one?" Beedrill reiterated.

"Yep!" Jirachi confirmed cheerfully. "Any other questions?"

None of the campers responded, so Jirachi concluded his explanation with a smile. "Wonderful! Remember, there are no teams, so it's up to you whether or not you still want to work together!" he said enthusiastically. "Just keep in mind that you can't share a key between two people!"

With that, the host clapped his hands and vanished from the scene. Diancie awkwardly departed on her own as the campers began talking amongst themselves to decide where to begin searching.

 **-static-**

" **The ssstakesss for thisss challenge are quite interesssting," Seviper admitted. "The three golden chessstsss probably contain better prizesss than the regular onesss, since they're harder to get into. Meaning that everyone isss going to want a golden key."**

 **The serpent's gaze shifted to the confessional door. "Ssspeaking of which, I ssshould be out there sssearching, not in here," she muttered, nudging the door open and slipping outside.**

 **-static-**

"Okay, guys, huddle up. Here's the game plan," said Clauncher. The four Gastrodon males were bunched up together in the middle of camp as Clauncher prepared to share his plan with them. "Diancie said there were keys in and around the lake, right?"

"R-right," Combusken said affirmatively. Reuniclus eyed Combusken distastefully; although Clauncher had invited him to work with the alliance, Reuniclus wasn't keen on the idea of keeping a deadweight player around. Nonetheless, having an extra pair of eyes during this challenge wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Okay. Since I'm a Water-type, I can do all the underwater searching," Clauncher offered. "Unless Sharpedo and Basculin are patrolling the lake again, because I'm not going anywhere near it if they are."

"Sounds good to me. What about the rest of the plan?" Beedrill inquired.

Clauncher scratched at his head. "Uh, that's it. That was my plan."

Beedrill sighed. "Well, we're going to need more than that. There probably aren't any more than one or two keys hidden in the lake, since most of the lake is only accessible to three remaining campers," Beedrill reasoned. "Combusken, Reuniclus, and I should search other parts of the island."

"Have at it! I shouldn't be wasting time though, or Vaporeon will find all the keys in the lake," Clauncher said hurriedly. He did a quick spin and scurried towards the lake. "Good luck, guys!"

Reuniclus crossed his arms once Clauncher had left. "Okay, so there are three places left that we can search, so we should have one Pokemon take each," the Psychic-type stated. "Our options are the campsite, the woods, and the tunnels."

"It'll be trickier to find a key in the darkness of the tunnels, or among the foliage in the woods. The campsite will probably be easiest," Beedrill theorized. "We'll vote to decide who searches where. Who wants the campsite?"

All three of them raised an appendage. Combusken slowly lowered his as Reuniclus and Beedrill settled their eyes on him. "O-okay, one of you guys can have it…" he muttered timidly. "I'll be f-fine in the...the woods...a-all alone…"

"Nobody said you had to take the woods," Reuniclus said, rolling his eyes. "If you're that scared of encountering the forest dwellers, you can just take the tunnels."

"I think he wants the campsite, Reuniclus," said Beedrill.

Reuniclus frowned at the bug. "Well yeah. So do I. So do you, for that matter."

"It doesn't matter that much to me. The two of you can decide which one of you is going to stay here," Beedrill ordered, glancing back and forth between the two.

Combusken nervously tapped his claws together. "I-I mean, you can stay here if you want," he said to Reuniclus. "I've never b-been in the tunnels...so m-maybe it'll be an adventure?"

"Great. Dibs on camp, then," said Reuniclus, satisfied. "Beedrill, that means you get the woods."

"So it does," Beedrill murmured. He gave Combusken and Reuniclus a quick wave with one needle. "I'm off. Best of luck to you two."

Reuniclus paused to think about where he should start looking as soon as Beedrill left. There were plenty of options to decide from; there could always be something hidden in the cafeteria, or potentially even a key locked up in the warehouse. Was the warehouse even off limits anymore? Reuniclus scratched his head, trying to remember if the hosts had declared that it was still closed to the campers.

"A-actually, um…"

Reuniclus's train of thought was abruptly ended as he heard Combusken's stuttering coming from behind him. The Psychic-type exhaled deeply and turned to face Combusken. "What?"

"D-do you mind if I, uh, maybe s-stick around camp?" Combusken asked weakly, his legs trembling.

Reuniclus stared at Combusken with a look of disappointment. "Fine," he muttered after a few awkward seconds, gesturing for Combusken to follow him. "Just don't get in the way."

 **-static-**

" **I don't know how he's still here, but I guess we'll keep Combusken around as long as we need him," Reuniclus said, shrugging indifferently. "Maybe we'll get some use out of having an extra vote. Otherwise, I can't think of a good reason to keep him on board."**

 **-static-**

"You think there's a key down there?"

Vaporeon inched closer to the lake, and Lilligant followed from a distance. Vaporeon nodded and and stepped into the lake slowly, letting the cool water lap gently at her paws. Lilligant idly waited at the beach as Vaporeon stared into the lake.

"There has to be a key down here somewhere," Vaporeon said to Lilligant after a short pause. "Diancie mentioned the lake for a reason. And as one of two Water-types left, it's my job to find the key before Clauncher does!"

"Actually, Dusclops can search underwater, too," Lilligant reminded Vaporeon.

Vaporeon shrugged. "I haven't seen him around the lake yet. And he's too slow to really make a difference, anyway."

"He won the first challenge underwater," Lilligant pointed out.

"Well...that was dumb luck," Vaporeon argued unconvincingly. "This is different."

"This is also a luck-based challenge."

"Oh, go search somewhere else already," Vaporeon pouted. She waved Lilligant away with her tail and dove headfirst into the lake, disappearing into the depths in an instant.

Lilligant turned to the forest once Vaporeon was out of sight; there would be plenty of good hiding places in the forest, and she would be in her element there. The plant Pokemon trekked into the woods, keeping a close eye on anything that looked like it might harbor some secrets.

 **-static-**

Seviper circled the campsite once more, searching the outdoors for any signs of hidden keys. She hadn't had any luck thus far, and was beginning to think that even the hosts weren't stupid enough to hide the keys out in the open.

As she made her last round of the campsite, however, she caught sight of a figure approaching the warehouse. Seviper kept to the shadows and peeked out from behind a cabin to see who it was. Her eyes narrowed as the recognized the figure's slim physique.

"Well, well. Look who it isss."

Mienshao whirled around quickly to see Seviper approaching her, the usual hint of suspicion in her eyes. Mienshao's face instinctively morphed into a scowl, and she threw Seviper a loathing glare. "What do you want?" Mienshao snarled.

"A key, sssame asss you," Seviper replied levelly. She glanced beyond Mienshao at the currently locked doors of the warehouse. "It looksss to me like you're trying to sssneak into placesss where you don't belong."

"I wouldn't put it past the hosts to hide a key somewhere and not tell us about it," Mienshao responded, giving Seviper a cold look. "Now run along. I don't have time to waste explaining myself to you."

"And what makesss you think I have to lisssten to you?" Seviper hissed irritably. "The game'sss changed, Mienshao, and not in your favor. You make a missstake now, and I'll sssee to it that the next Laprasss isss reserved for you."

"An empty threat if I've ever heard one," Mienshao scoffed, giving Seviper a disdainful look. "I may not have an alliance now, but neither do you. You're powerless to eliminate me."

"You're more of a fool than I thought if you believe we're on equal ground," Seviper said. "It'sss not just me, Mienssshao. The whole island isss againssst you."

Mienshao's retort got caught in her throat as Seviper abruptly turned away and left. She returned her focus to the warehouse locks, scowling intensely. The fact that Seviper could be right meant that she needed a new plan; laying low was no longer an option.

Her eyes lit up as the first of five locks loosened up and snapped open. A greedy smile worked its way onto her face, and she tossed the lock aside. A sliver of hope still remained.

 **-static-**

"Yo, I can barely even see in here!" Noivern shouted as she ventured with Castform through the dimly lit underground tunnels. Fortunately, Castform had enough forethought to suggest that they bring a flashlight, though judging by the flickering beam, it wouldn't last them much longer.

"Why are we down here if you can hardly see?" Castform inquired.

Noivern let out a gasp as she bumped into a wall. "Good question!" she admitted, rubbing her head. "I've got echolocation, my good friend! Even if I have trouble seeing down here, I've got better odds of finding the key than anyone else on the island!"

"That's fair," Castform agreed. "I wonder if we should have let Dusclops tag along, though. He's been feeling pretty down lately."

"He said he didn't want to," said Noivern, shrugging. "Not much more we can do."

Castform retained mild feelings of guilt, but she forced them aside in favor of the challenge. So far, neither Castform nor Noivern had seen any signs of a key yet, but that was bound to change sooner or later.

As a matter of fact, it changed rather quickly. Castform smacked into Noivern from behind as the bat abruptly halted in the middle of the tunnel. "Ow! What...why are we stopping?" Castform muttered, peeking out from behind the bat.

Noivern turned to Castform with a wide grin, a bronze key clutched in her claws. "Got one!" Noivern exclaimed triumphantly. "And it was hidden right in a crack in the wall! How easy was that?"

"Pretty easy, I guess?" Castform offered. "We've only been down here for around twenty minutes, so we're probably ahead of the curve right now."

"Yeah, darn right we are!" Noivern said, punching Castform lightly on her lack of a shoulder. "One more to go and we're both set! Nothing can stop this dynamic duo!"

The flashlight flickered its final beam of light before fizzling out completely. Noivern sighed. "Except that, of course."

Noivern grabbed Castform and pushed her back in the direction the two of them had come from. "C'mon, let's get out of here. There's probably keys hidden somewhere else."

 **-static-**

" **Still, that trip wasn't a total waste! I'm all set!" Noivern boasted excitedly, twirling her bronze key around one claw. "Who's the best? That's right, I'M the best!"**

 **-static-**

"Jeez, they _really_ didn't make it easy to get to this key."

It had taken little effort for Vaporeon to find a key shining amidst a pile of rocks, but moving the stones to reach it was an entirely different matter. Unfortunately for her, this was proving to be quite a task; pulling each stone from the pile required a tremendous amount of strength.

Vaporeon gritted her teeth and tugged at the largest boulder in the pile with all her might. It didn't budge. "Guess it's time to do things the old-fashioned way," she said, bubbles streaming from her mouth. "Hydro Pump!"

A forceful jet of water shot from Vaporeon's mouth and smashed into the boulder, cracking it into several pieces. Vaporeon slapped one of the broken fragments away with her tail and snatched up the bronze key from underneath.

"Score," she breathed. "Now I just have to get this back to camp!"

Unfortunately for her, this was easier said than done. As Vaporeon swam back to the surface, two shadowy figures began swimming down towards her. Vaporeon's eyes widened as she recognized the dark silhouettes.

"Uh-oh," Vaporeon muttered, swimming behind a rock wall. The loud chuckles coming from the other side of the wall told her that her presence had not gone unnoticed.

"Well, well, would ya look at that! She's trying to hide from us!" one voice cackled madly. "Ain't that cute, Sharpedo?"

"You're in our turf now, Bubbles," Sharpedo growled menacingly. Vaporeon crept further behind the wall as she tried thinking of ways to escape without drawing their attention. "So you better have a plan, or else this can only go one way."

"Boo," whispered a quiet voice behind her. Vaporeon let out a high-pitched scream and whirled around to see Basculin sneaking up behind her. Sharpedo appeared on the other side of Vaporeon, and the two fish Pokemon burst into obnoxious laughter.

Sharpedo gave Vaporeon a toothy grin as he swam closer. "Tell me, you didn't honestly think you were going to get away that easily, right?" he asked. "That there is OUR key to guard, Bubbles. Prepare for a whole world of hurt!"

Basculin cackled and darted closer to Vaporeon from the opposite side. Vaporeon clutched the key tightly in her tail and prepared herself for the inevitable battle.

 **-static-**

Beedrill fluttered through the woods, his eyes keenly sweeping his surroundings as he flew deeper. So far, he had encountered nothing of interest, though he did at one point cross paths with Dusclops. The ghost didn't have a key either, but they did exchange information about where they had already searched.

According to Dusclops, there was no key in the eastern part of the woods. Beedrill didn't know how thoroughly Dusclops had searched, or if his information was even reliable, but he'd opted to trust Dusclops in the hopes that he might find a key faster this way. There were still plenty of places he hadn't checked yet.

Beedrill emitted a low buzz as he flew up to the treetops, looking down on the forest from above. Once he had almost the entirety of the island's forest within his view, he stopped to look around more closely. At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary, but a subtle movement from the western part of the woods garnered his attention.

Beedrill silently descended into the foliage and hid himself inside a rather roomy bush. He followed the movement of the figure with his eyes, attempting to identify who it was. He could distinguish the color green from afar, but not much else. The Poison Bee Pokemon decided to fly in for a closer look.

On the ground, Lilligant wandered through the woods, gently pushing aside any branches obstructing her path aside as she searched for keys. She had a hunch that the hosts would try to hide a key somewhere out of sight, like inside a tree or entangled in a bush. As she approached a tree hollow to peer inside, Beedrill dropped to the ground behind her, prompting Lilligant to jump in fright.

Lilligant let out a quick shout as she whirled around, clearly not expecting to have encountered anyone like this. Her expression relaxed a bit once she realized it was Beedrill.

"Oh, it's just you," Lilligant sighed in relief, holding a leafy hand to her chest. "I thought you might have been one of the forest Pokemon for a moment…"

She trailed off as Beedrill maintained a level gaze on her. "There's no key inside the tree," Lilligant said weakly, gesturing to the tree. "I'll just, um, be on my way now."

Lilligant attempted to walk past Beedrill, but he held out a needle to stop her. "I'm just here to talk," Beedrill informed Lilligant coolly. "I think there are some things that need to be said."

Lilligant swallowed nervously and faced Beedrill. The bug's expression was unreadable, but now that she was looking at him more closely, he didn't appear to be angry like she expected. If anything, his facial expression seemed softer than usual.

"There's been some open hostility between us as of late," Beedrill stated seriously. "That much is largely my fault. After Tyranitar and Minun were eliminated, I was resentful that you turned your back on them. But I'm willing to put that behind us, if you're willing to make amends as well."

He extended a needle towards Lilligant, which she presumed to be his means of a handshake. "I think this has gone on long enough. We're already halfway through the game, and I don't wish to hold any unnecessary grudges," Beedrill said. "We both know who deserves the blame for starting this whole mess."

Lilligant nodded slowly and shook Beedrill's needle with one hand. "...Yeah. Mienshao," Lilligant finished for him.

"Exactly. Now, I don't know what made you side with her in the first place, and frankly I don't care to hear your explanation. What matters is that this is your chance to redeem yourself," said Beedrill, crossing his arms. "If you help me get her out of the game, we can settle this for good. Do we have a deal?"

Lilligant hesitated for a second, uncertain of what to make of his offer. Beedrill's intense stare, while not outright threatening, didn't make the decision any easier.

"Um, yeah," Lilligant agreed after a bit of thought. "I'll do whatever I can."

Beedrill gave her a curt nod. "Glad to hear that. It's about time we put this to rest," he said, a hint of bitterness in his tone. His eyes rested on Lilligant as he took to the air. "By the way, there's no key in this part of the woods. You're better off looking somewhere else."

Beedrill gave her a final wave and flew off, leaving Lilligant alone with her thoughts. The plant Pokemon felt a mixture of confusion and relief about her interaction with Beedrill. On one hand, she was happy that his anger had finally subsided, but that didn't make it any easier to understand what was going through his mind.

Lilligant forced herself to relax and continued walking through the forest—after all, there was no point to wondering about his intentions. If Beedrill's tip was to be trusted, it might be a while before she found what she was looking for.

 **-static-**

Meanwhile, Mawile was doing a thorough inspection of camp. She had hoped to encounter Dusclops at some point during the challenge so she could clear things up between them, but she had yet to find him. Unfortunately, her search for keys had yielded no more results than her search for Dusclops.

Mawile pushed open the doors to the cafeteria and looked inside. No keys stood out at a quick glance, but she decided it was worthwhile to investigate further. As she crept into the kitchen, she heard two voices speaking to each other.

"Maybe we can hit the rec room next. I don't think we're going to find anything here if we haven't already," said the first voice. Mawile quickly recognized it as belonging to Reuniclus, and she peeked out from behind a wall to see the gelatinous Pokemon talking to Combusken.

"But what about the pantry?" Combusken asked timidly. "We didn't check the pantry yet."

Reuniclus sighed. "I highly doubt they'd hide a key in there, but be my guest," he said, gesturing for Combusken to go check the pantry. "There weren't any keys in the fridge, so—"

"L-look! It's a key!" Combusken burst out excitedly, wiggling a bronze key out from in between two cans of food. He waved it in Reuniclus's face triumphantly. The Psychic-type looked less than thrilled to be shown up by Combusken, but he said nothing.

Combusken noticed Reuniclus's expression and lowered the key from his face. "S-sorry. I can, um, h-help you find one, too…" Combusken offered apologetically. "If you want."

"Just head back to camp now," Reuniclus grumbled. "If you've already found a key, you don't need to stick around."

"But I can help you find one!" Combusken pressed adamantly. "W-we're supposed to work together, right?"

Reuniclus looked genuinely surprised by Combusken's eagerness to help out, but he sighed in defeat. "All right. If you want to help out, I guess I won't stop you," the Psychic-type said, gesturing with his arm for Combusken to follow him. "Come on, let's go check out the rec room."

As Reuniclus and Combusken exited the kitchen, Mawile tucked herself underneath the counter to avoid being seen. If she was caught eavesdropping on other Pokemon, that would only add to the assortment of problems she had to deal with right now.

Reuniclus and Combusken passed by the counter without a single glance in Mawile's direction, and she breathed a sigh of relief. The Steel-type picked herself up off the floor and went to check the kitchen for herself; there was always the off chance that Combusken and Reuniclus missed a key.

 **-static-**

" **I may have been a bit quick to judge Combusken," Reuniclus admitted. "I mean, he's not exactly what I'd call a** _ **good**_ **player, but he** _ **is**_ **a team player. We could use more of those."**

 **-static-**

" **Jackpot," said Mawile with a smirk, holding up a bronze key. "Never forget to check the ceiling lights."**

 **-static-**

Lopunny strolled down to the beach by herself. She hadn't found a key yet, despite searching all the obvious places in camp rather thoroughly. The lake was probably her next best bet in terms of finding one.

As soon as Lopunny stepped onto the sand, however, a figure was catapulted from the lake and onto the beach, flopping about wildly. Lopunny stared, wide-eyed, as Basculin flailed about weakly on the surface of the beach.

She hesitated before going over to help him, as Sharpedo and Basculin were known to be rather aggressive towards the campers for little to no reason. However, it was possible that Basculin could have information about where the keys were hidden; Lopunny's pragmatic side persuaded her to go over and speak to him.

"Your friend's tough," Basculin rasped as Lopunny approached him. She fixed him with a perplexed look, and he chuckled hoarsely. "Toss me back in the water, would ya? I got some ass-kickin' to finish."

"If you answer one question for me, I'll help you," Lopunny proposed. "Where can I find a key?"

Basculin rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I ain't supposed to tell you anything about that," he snorted. "What, do you think I'm just gonna blab at the first opportunity I get?"

Lopunny simply raised an eyebrow in response, causing Basculin to gnash his teeth irritably. "Fine, I'll get back in the water on my own, then!" Basculin snapped. He flopped limply back towards the water. "Thanks for nothin'!"

The Rabbit Pokemon deliberately stepped into Basculin's path, cutting off his path back into the lake. "Hey! Stop that!" Basculin yelled. "I'm tryin' to do my job here!"

"And I'm trying to do mine, which involves finding a key," Lopunny replied coolly. "Interested in helping me out?"

Basculin scowled in defeat. "Fine. You should find a bronze key on the side of the lake closest to the cliff. It's underwater, hidden underneath a rock that's shaped kinda like a Wailmer."

"Thank you," said Lopunny. She picked up Basculin with both hands and lightly tossed him back into the water, where he immediately disappeared into the depths. As Lopunny began marching towards the cliff, however, another figure was blasted out of the water, landing right in front of her.

The bunny stared at the Sharpedo-shaped indentation in the sand that had been left upon impact. "Is this normal around here?" Lopunny asked Sharpedo as he grunted in pain and rolled himself over. "Do you two get launched out of the water on a regular basis?"

"Shut up," Sharpedo coughed, spitting up some sand. "Basculin and I tried to fight her off after she took the key! But she disappeared the instant we tried to attack her, and the next thing we know, she's blasting us out of the water!"

"What?" Lopunny asked. "Who do you mean by—"

"Hey, Lopunny!"

Lopunny's eyes drifted toward the sound of the new voice, and she saw Vaporeon emerging from the water, a bronze key dangling from her mouth. Vaporeon waved to her friend with one paw and walked over to greet her.

"Found a key while I was down there," Vaporeon panted, dropping her key onto the beach by Lopunny's feet. "I did have to fight a couple of fish for it, though. Say, did you find any keys yet, Lopunny?"

Lopunny stared at Vaporeon numbly for a moment before shaking her head. "No, not yet," Lopunny said, her voice trembling slightly. "I'm just going to look somewhere else."

Before Vaporeon could say anything else, Lopunny quickly turned and walked off towards the cliff. Vaporeon watched her leave with a pained expression.

 **-static-**

" **I don't get why she's acting like this," said Vaporeon, clearly confused. "I'm being as friendly as usual, but every time I've approached her over the past few days, she makes an excuse to leave."**

 **The Bubble Jet Pokemon frowned. "Did I do something wrong? I don't remember doing anything wrong," she confessed. "Does that make me a terrible friend?"**

 **-static-**

Chandelure had settled on searching the cave first. Seeing as she could illuminate her surroundings with ease, this would naturally be an easy task for her to complete.

Or so she had thought, anyway. It hadn't taken long for her to get lost within the island's maze-like cave system, and having never been there before, she didn't have the slightest inkling of how to find her way back.

Still, Chandelure was a patient Pokemon. As long as she came out of the cave with a key, it didn't matter how much time she spent here. She cast a dim glow on the walls of the tunnel, searching every crevice for signs of a key. Upon finding nothing, she moved deeper into the cave.

As Chandelure rounded the corner of the tunnel she was in, she was met with the unexpected sight of another camper. Seviper immediately shrank back upon realizing she was no longer alone, coiling a bronze key in her tail. Chandelure eyed the key enviously. "I see you've found a key already," Chandelure observed.

"Yesss, and I'm on my way out now," Seviper hissed back. She was having some difficulty seeing through the darkness, but thanks to the moving lights in front of her, she was able to tell that she was speaking to Chandelure. "Don't even think about trying to sssteal my key, Chandelure."

"I have no interest in your key, Seviper," Chandelure said dismissively. "There are enough keys for all of us. Taking yours provides me no benefits, especially since I'm looking for a different kind of key."

"You're looking for a golden key?" Seviper pieced together. "Good luck with that. There'sss only three of them."

"Three is more than enough," Chandelure responded briskly before pushing past Seviper. The serpent cast a wary glance after Chandelure before making her way back out of the cave.

 **-static-**

" **I don't trussst Chandelure one bit," Seviper stated plainly. "It'sss impresssive that she'sss ssslipped under the radar for ssso long, essspecially given her team'sss losing ssstreak. But I doubt that anyone who hasss made it thisss far by themssselvesss played a clean game."**

 **The serpent thought about her own words for a moment. "Granted, I made it thisss far without foul play, so I'm not one to talk," Seviper added on a sarcastic note. "Ssstill, I don't trussst Chandelure, and that'sss not about to change any time sssoon."**

 **-static-**

Jolteon and Chatot crossed the campsite together as the sun rose to its highest point in the sky. Neither of them had obtained a key yet, but both had quickly grown tired of the search.

"Whoevah thought of this challenge deserves ta get smacked across the face," Chatot complained, trudging towards the comfortable shade of the cabins. "Since when has a luck based challenge evah been a _good_ idea?"

Jolteon shrugged. "Beats me," the electric wolf admitted. "Maybe they're doing it on purpose to get under our skin."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Chatot groaned. "I just wish we coulda done this challenge on a day that wasn't dreadfully hot. Makes an already bad experience a whole lot worse."

"I guess so," Jolteon said. "I don't really mind the heat."

"You're an Electric-type, Jolteon. Ya aren't supposed to," Chatot said, shaking his head. "Whatevah. Let's think about this fah a moment; if we were the hosts, where would we hide a stupid key?"

"I'd probably hide it in the outhouse," Jolteon said immediately. "That's got to be a nasty place to look."

Chatot fixed Jolteon with a worried look. "I don't like the way your mind thinks," Chatot muttered. "But at the same time, that's probably why you're right."

Just as the duo stood up to go investigate the confessional, a grinning Mienshao emerged from behind the female Gastrodons' cabin, smugly twirling a key in one hand. She stopped as she noticed Chatot and Jolteon standing there and instantly hid the key behind her back.

"We know ya have a key, Mienshao," Chatot snorted. "Don't bothah tryin' ta hide it."

Mienshao scowled and let the key dangle at her side instead. "Well, if you're so interested in my key, I take it you haven't found any of your own," the weasel retorted. Chatot threw her a withering glare, but Jolteon stepped forward before the irritated bird could say a word.

"What's in your other hand?" Jolteon piped up, nodding at Mienshao's left hand, which she was still holding behind her back.

Mienshao hesitated for a moment before holding out her other hand for him to see. In it was a bronze key identical to the one clutched in her right hand. Chatot did a double take, staring at the key in her hand and then at her face in disbelief.

"You found _two?_ " he sputtered in amazement. "How'd ya manage that, exactly?"

"It took a little snooping around," Mienshao said casually. "There wasn't anything in the warehouse, but it gave me some ideas of where to look."

"Ya went in the warehouse?" Chatot repeated in shock. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Mienshao shot back snidely. "Like I said, I didn't find anything. But as it turns out, the interns did have some info to share, which helped me get this." She held up the key in her left hand.

"Well, colah me impressed," Chatot murmured. "Mind sharin' some of your wisdom ta help a couple of guys out?"

"Why?" scoffed Mienshao. "I've already found my own key. It doesn't matter to me whether you two find yours or not."

"Exactly. There's no downside ta helpin' out this challenge," Chatot countered. "And if ya don't mind me sayin', it wouldn't kill ya ta make some new allies now that the merge is here."

Mienshao appeared interested now, as she fixed Chatot with a curious look. "Are you implying what I think you are?"

"Perhaps," Chatot replied evasively. "If ya do me a favor now, there's always the chance I'll pay it back down the road."

Jolteon watched Chatot with a look of surprise; it wasn't like him to go striking deals like this out of the blue, much less with someone who was known to be rather underhanded. There had to be some sort of bigger play that he was going for.

Mienshao seemed to consider his offer for a good few seconds before nodding her head. "Okay," she said, toying with the key in her left hand. "You can have one of these keys on one condition."

Chatot folded his wings. "I'm listenin'."

"We don't have to be allies, but you don't vote against me in voting ceremonies," Mienshao stated. "I don't care who it is that you vote for, but I'm asking for a truce between us. That's my condition."

"Fair enough," Chatot agreed, sticking out his wing. Mienshao shook it firmly, slipping the key to him in one smooth motion. "Pleasure doin' business."

"Any time," Mienshao replied with a smirk. She turned to walk away, but Chatot stopped her.

"One more thing before ya go, actually," Chatot called out. Mienshao faced the bird once more, listening patiently. "Did ya happen ta find out where any of the othah keys are located?"

"There's at least one in the woods, according to the interns," Mienshao told him. "And one in the outhouse, apparently."

Mienshao stepped inside her cabin, seeing that Chatot and Jolteon had no more questions. The two simply looked at each other in disgust once she was inside.

"We in agreement that we're not, uh, checkin' the outhouse for that key?" Chatot asked Jolteon.

"Uh, yep. Seconded," he agreed hastily. Chatot nodded and hopped off toward the woods.

 **-static-**

" **When it comes down to it, the rules of the game haven't changed," Chatot admitted. "There might not be teams, but we still need ta work togethah when we can ta keep an advantage. Especially since things aren't workin' out great with Noivahn and Castform anymore, so…"**

 **The bird tipped his hat downward to cover his eyes. "...it never hurts ta have a plan B," he finished grimly.**

 **-static-**

"This is disgusting."

Noivern and Castform were bent over the seat of the confessional, staring down into the hole below. At the very bottom of said hole was a glimmering key. The two of them knew what had to be done, but neither was eager to do it.

"Nose goes," said Noivern quickly. She instantly tapped her nose with one claw and let out a triumphant laugh. "Haha! You do it, Castform!"

"I don't have hands," Castform reminded Noivern.

"Yeah, that's why I won," Noivern said smugly. "Clever trick, huh?"

"That means I can't go down there and grab it."

Noivern's face fell. "Oh," she said. "Yeah. Right. Well, this'll be fun."

Castform watched in disgust as Noivern stretched one clawed wing down into the hole and began feeling around for the key. She withdrew her wing after a few seconds with a key clutched tightly in it. Both girls' eyes widened as they realized what the key was.

"No way," breathed Noivern. "Dude! We found a golden key!"

"Maybe this wasn't a horrible idea after all," Castform commented.

"Nah, this still sucked super hard. I'm gonna need a shower once this is all done," Noivern said, wiping her wing on the confessional wall. "Dibs on the golden key since I'm the one who had to get it!"

"Fine by me. You mind if I take the other one?" Castform inquired. Noivern shook her head, so Castform carefully balanced the bronze key the duo found earlier on her head. "Sweet. Let's get out of here."

"No complaints here!" said Noivern in an unsuitably cheerful voice as she followed Castform away from the outhouse.

 **-static-**

Lilligant stumbled through the woods hurriedly, unable to find a key despite her best efforts. Even though there was no time limit for this challenge, she felt pressured to find one soon—perhaps the show had conditioned her to do these challenges as fast as possible.

As a matter of fact, Lilligant was walking so quick that she didn't notice Dusclops in her path, bumping into him and knocking the two of them over. Lilligant let out a surprised yelp and got up in a flash, apologizing for not paying attention.

Dusclops gave her a small smile. "It's fine, no harm done," he said casually, putting a hand up. Lilligant smiled in relief and helped Dusclops off the ground. "Have you had any luck finding a key yet?"

"No, not yet," Lilligant said. "I've covered most of the woods already, and I'm beginning to doubt that the hosts actually hid anything in here."

"Well, keep searching. You'll find one eventually," Dusclops said with a grin, holding up a key of his own. Lilligant stared at his key enviously, and he chuckled. "Gotta know where to look. I found this one in a Sitrus berry tree, hidden way up in the leaves. If you want to find a key in the woods, you've got your work cut out for you."

"Thanks for the tip, I guess," Lilligant said. "I should probably start looking again."

"Good luck," Dusclops replied, giving her a thumbs-up. "I'm heading back to camp."

Lilligant waved goodbye to Dusclops and ventured deeper into the woods, towards the clearing where she had previously seen some berry trees. Maybe she would have some better luck with Dusclops's advice.

 **-static-**

" **It's nice to know that even though we weren't on the same team before, most of the Milotics seem pretty nice," Lilligant commented with a pleasant smile. "I was intimidated by the idea of the merge at first, but it's not so bad."**

 **She paused to hold up a bronze key. "I found this in the woods as well. Hopefully there's something good in those chests, because it's not easy to find these keys," she said.**

 **-static-**

Dusclops sauntered back into camp, a grin still fresh on his face from his earlier conversation with Lilligant. His expression immediately changed as he approached the center of camp and locked eyes with Mawile.

"Dusclops! There you are," said Mawile in a hushed voice, walking over to him quickly before anyone else around camp could see them. She guided Dusclops over to the side of the male Milotics' cabin and faced Dusclops with crossed arms. "Why have you been avoiding me all day?"

"I...uh…" Dusclops scrambled to find the right words, unprepared for a direct confrontation with Mawile. He wasn't ready to face her after what had happened at the last elimination, especially since he wasn't sure if she was really on his side or not.

Mawile noticed Dusclops's hesitation to speak up and decided to take the initiative. "You approached me at the last voting ceremony and accused me of voting out Cryogonal. Why?" she asked. Her tone wasn't aggressive, but Dusclops still winced at her words.

"I thought that, um…" Dusclops began. "Look, it doesn't add up. You can't have voted for Druddigon, because he would've gone home instead of Cryogonal that night."

"You don't know that. Even if all three of us voted for Cryogonal, we were on a team of nine," Mawile reasoned.

"But I do," Dusclops protested. "Because Castform and Noivern voted for him, too. And that's _five_ votes, Mawile. Or at least it should have been."

Silence passed between them. Mawile knew she had been caught, but she didn't want to admit it to Dusclops; that could distance him further from her. On the other hand, it was possible that only the truth could repair their friendship.

She let out a deep sigh. "Okay, I didn't vote for Druddigon," she admitted. "Cryogonal approached me after our meeting and said we should vote for Chandelure, and I agreed."

Dusclops stared at her in disbelief, the feeling of betrayal displayed quite clearly in his eye. "We had no idea that he was even a target at the time. It still doesn't make much sense to me, but somehow there must have been at least four votes for Cryogonal to outweigh your votes for Druddigon, if Noivern and Castform are telling the truth."

"They are," Dusclops said firmly, giving Mawile a harsh glare. "I wish I could say the same about you."

"Look, Dusclops, I'm coming clean. I voted for Chandelure, okay? Cryogonal and I thought it was the best move at the time," Mawile explained.

"Well, you should have said no," Dusclops said stubbornly. "Since when has splitting votes been a good idea? Nobody ever wins that way. If we all just voted for Druddigon, Cryogonal might still be here now!"

"Or he might not have been. We lost the last challenge anyway," Mawile said defensively.

"But it wouldn't have been Cryogonal going home, would it?" Dusclops challenged her. "It would've been Chandelure next. Because you two seem to have it out for her for some reason."

"She's a threat, Dusclops!" Mawile practically shouted, getting fed up with Dusclops. "We were trying to eliminate her to save you!"

She jabbed a finger out at Dusclops as she said this, and a hostile silence passed between the two of them as they held each other under judgmental glares. Mawile shook her head at Dusclops and let out another exasperated sigh.

"I've told you all there is to tell, Dusclops. If you're not okay with the decisions I made, that's on you," she said.

"That's on ME?" he repeated angrily. "I'm not the one who went behind somebody's back to sabotage the alliance's votes! As a matter of fact, it seems like I'm the ONLY one who told the truth at all!"

He scoffed at Mawile and looked at the ground. "Maybe that was foolish of me," he muttered. "But I'm not gonna be fooled twice, Mawile. I'm done with this alliance."

Mawile opened her mouth in shock, but Dusclops pushed past her before she had the chance to respond. She stared at the sides of the cabin emptily, searching for words. Nothing came to mind.

 **-static-**

"Hey, Lopunny! How's it goin'?"

Lopunny looked up at the sound of a new voice as she waded deeper into the lake. Clauncher was waving at her cheerfully from the middle of the lake, and began swimming over towards her once she saw him.

"Hi, Clauncher," Lopunny greeted him, though she didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.

He popped back up to the surface next to her, a bronze key clutched in his left pincer. "I take it you haven't found anything yet?" Clauncher prompted her upon noticing the lack of keys in her hands.

"Not yet," Lopunny murmured distractedly, hardly paying him any attention. She was more focused on the water, searching for anything that looked like the rock Basculin had described. "I'd better keep looking, Clauncher."

"Hey, no problem! Maybe I can help out?" Clauncher offered. He waited a few seconds for a response, but Lopunny just started wading further into the lake without him. "Hey! Lopunny?"

Lopunny finally registered his words and turned to face him. Clauncher hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Is something wrong? You seem kind of...out of it. No offense or anything."

"I'm fine," she replied, brushing him off. "I just need to find a key so I can go back to camp."

Clauncher scratched his head with one claw before making up his mind. "If you need a key, you can have mine, I guess," Clauncher offered, extending it towards her delicately. "I'm better suited to looking around underwater, anyway."

Lopunny stared at him blankly for a few seconds before registering what he had said. "Oh. Um...thanks, Clauncher," she said, taking the key from him and giving him a quick smile. "I'll see you back at camp."

"See you," Clauncher responded, returning the smile brightly. His eyes followed Lopunny as she traipsed through the shallow water to get back to the beach. Once she was gone, his expression fell as he stared down into the lake. He had been lucky enough to avoid Basculin and Sharpedo thus far, but he was willing to bet they'd cross paths soon.

"Well, here goes nothing," he said, diving back down into the water. "I haven't seen any signs of them yet. That's a good thing, right?"

 **-static-**

 **Clauncher triumphantly held up a second bronze key in his claws, displaying it for the camera to see. "Well, what do you know! Luck is finally on my side!" he boasted. "It wasn't so difficult to find a second key after all! And hey, nobody even tried to attack me. We should have challenges like this more often!"**

 **-static-**

Seviper was keeping track of which campers had finished the challenge as they made their way back to camp. Chandelure had returned recently, looking rather dissatisfied with the bronze key in her possession. Evidently her cave expedition hadn't produced the results she wanted.

And now that Chandelure was back, very few campers remained in the challenge. Seviper hadn't seen Jolteon or Chatot since they headed into the woods, and Reuniclus, Beedrill, and Combusken had all been missing for a good part of the challenge. The serpent coiled herself underneath a tree comfortably, preparing to wait in the shade until the remaining campers got back.

It wasn't long before the next camper arrived, however. Beedrill flew back into camp, looking unusually pleased with himself. Seviper slithered out from under the tree and met him halfway as he approached the center of camp.

"I take it you found ssssomething good?" Seviper asked him as Beedrill landed next to her.

The bug didn't bother to hide his proud smirk, slowly withdrawing one of his needles from behind his back. As Beedrill held out his left needle, Seviper noticed the golden key hanging from the tip. He flashed Seviper a confident grin. "You could say that," Beedrill replied. His eyes scanned the middle of camp, looking for any of his friends. "Have Clauncher, Reuniclus, or Combusken returned yet?"

"Clauncher hasss," Seviper told him. She eyed the golden key curiously. "Where'd you even think to look to find thisss?"

"To be honest, I found it by accident. And I doubt I'd have found it if I didn't fly over the woods during my search," Beedrill told her. "It was hidden at the top of one of the tallest trees in the woods, which seems a little unfair to me. I doubt most campers would have even been able to reach it."

"Well, you know how the hostsss feel about fairnesss," Seviper muttered, rolling her eyes.

"They don't like it?" Beedrill guessed.

"Exactly."

 **-static-**

"Ugh. We've searched everywhere in camp _twice_ by now, and there's not even the slightest sign of there being another key around here!" Reuniclus said, throwing up his hands in frustration. Combusken nervously watched the psychic from a few paces away as he floated back and forth in front of their cabin, trying to think up their next move. "Maybe we're better off moving somewhere else."

"U-um...just a suggestion, if you don't mind," Combusken spoke up timidly. Reuniclus's concentration was abruptly shattered, and he threw Combusken an irritated look. Combusken immediately regretted his decision to speak, but he had already committed.

The chicken awkwardly stared at the ground as he spoke. "We haven't looked around inside the interns' cabin or by the hosts' headquarters yet," Combusken offered. "So m-maybe we should look around there?"

Reuniclus pondered the idea for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah, that might work," the gelatinous Pokemon murmured. "If they let us inside, that is. We might have to sneak in if a direct approach doesn't work."

He fixed Combusken with a serious look. "Are you up for this?" he asked. "Because I don't want you screwing us both up by accident. If you want to take your key and call it quits, that's fine."

"N-no, I can help," Combusken said. It sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself than Reuniclus, but the psychic chose to take it as a sign that he was genuinely trying to be useful.

"Okay," Reuniclus said, giving Combusken a pat on the shoulder. "Then let's go."

 **-static-**

"Do ya see that, Jolteon?"

"See what?"

Chatot jabbed his wing at the window to point out what he was seeing to Jolteon, but the wolf seemed to be having more trouble getting his head up to the window's level to see inside than anything. Chatot sighed and flew down from his perch on the windowsill to help.

Jolteon leaned against the outer wall of the hosts' headquarters with his front legs and managed to peek inside through the open window. Sitting on a table in the center of one of the front rooms was a golden key hidden inside a flower vase. Jolteon gasped and lost his balance, tumbling back down onto the ground by Chatot.

"Ya see it?" Chatot asked sarcastically. Jolteon nodded numbly and got to his feet. "We gotta get ta that somehow."

"Couldn't we just get in through the window?" Jolteon pointed out. "It's open."

"I know it's open, ya idiot," Chatot said, smacking Jolteon on the side with his wing. "It's too obvious. They'd nevah let us get it that easily."

"I'm pretty sure you're overthinking it," Jolteon said bluntly. "It's right there."

"No, there's gotta be some trick to it," Chatot said, striking a thoughtful pose. "Maybe they stationed someone inside ta catch us off guard. That'd be just like them, wouldn't it?"

He turned to his right to see Jolteon's reaction, but the Electric-type was already trying to pull himself inside the hosts' headquarters with his front legs. It was a pitiful struggle, but Chatot sighed and went over to help again.

Jolteon felt someone giving him a slight boost from below, and he finally managed to squeeze through the window. He fell down onto the other side and sprawled out on the rather exotic looking rug below. The vase awaited him in the middle of the room, tempting him to come forward with the key inside.

"Uh...maybe you were right. This seems too easy," Jolteon said uncertainly.

"Oh, just get the key, fer cryin' out loud!" Chatot squawked impatiently, their roles now reversed. "You're already in there!"

"Okay, okay, no need to shout at me," Jolteon mumbled. He took a hesitant step toward the table and frantically looked around. No signs of movement. It seemed he really was alone, save for Chatot's quiet breathing outside.

Jolteon stared at the vase and moved towards it again. Suddenly, the golden key flew from the vase over his head and out the window. Jolteon stared in awe as the key made its masterful escape through the window.

"Ya got the key yet?" called Chatot from outside, obviously having not witnessed the key's evasive maneuver.

Jolteon swallowed nervously. "There's, um, been a complication."

Chatot let out an irritated sigh. "Jolteon, it's literally in the _middle_ of the room. Just take a few steps towards it and grab it. That's all you gotta do."

"No, I mean it flew outside."

Chatot opened his mouth to make a snappy retort, but he spun around first to check whether or not he had somehow missed the key flying through the window. Sure enough, Reuniclus and Combusken were standing behind him, the key in Reuniclus's hand.

"Sorry," Reuniclus apologized, noticing Chatot's look of disbelief. "First come, first serve."

"Wha...bu...how?" Chatot stumbled over his own words as Jolteon walked over to the window to see what was going on.

Reuniclus smirked at their confusion. "Telekinesis," he said smoothly. As if to demonstrate, he let go of the key for a moment and let it float between his two hands. "Handy, isn't it? It's a shame I don't get to use it very often."

Chatot scowled as the realization that Reuniclus had stolen their key sunk in. "That ain't fair and you know it," he told Reuniclus. "We found that key first. Ya can't just take it!"

"But you didn't," Reuniclus said, closing his fingers around the key. "So it's mine."

Jolteon jumped out of the window behind Chatot, and the two started to approach Reuniclus and Combusken. The chicken shot Reuniclus a worried look as Chatot and Jolteon closed in on them menacingly, eyeing the key the whole time.

"Guess what, pal?" Chatot growled as he got up close to Reuniclus. "You and I were nevah on the same team. I don't care whethah you're in or not. So you bettah give up that key before I decide we gotta do things the hard way."

To Chatot's surprise, Reuniclus didn't waver. "If it's a fight you're looking for, that can be arranged," Reuniclus said, meeting Chatot's gaze with his own. "But I suggest you look for another key, because either way you're not getting this one."

Chatot glared at Reuniclus for a few seconds before scoffing and backing off. "Ya know what? We'll find anothah one. Come on, Jolteon." Chatot motioned for Jolteon to follow him away, and the Electric-type obliged.

Reuniclus and Combusken stood in silence by the hosts' cabin after Chatot and Jolteon had left. Combusken peered over at the golden key in Reuniclus's hand; he could scarcely believe that they had come out victorious after the encounter with Chatot.

Reuniclus looked at the key in his hand and then shot Combusken a smirk. "That went better than expected," Reuniclus commented. "I thought for sure we'd have to fight him if we stood our ground."

"Yeah, m-me too," Combusken said, still shaking off the sense of dread that seeing an angry Chatot had brought about. "Maybe w-we shouldn't do that again."

"We won't have to. Two keys is enough for both of us," Reuniclus reminded him. "Now let's get back to camp before Chatot changes his mind."

 **-static-**

" **Found anothah one," said Chatot, holding up a bronze key in one wing. His expression was still sour. "That means the challenge is ovah. Time ta find out what's in those chests."**

 **-static-**

"Wonderful! It looks like everyone's back!" Jirachi said cheerfully as Chatot and Jolteon made their way back to camp after a short trip to the woods. Chatot discreetly passed a key to Jolteon as the two of them joined the group of campers gathering in front of Jirachi. "I take it each of you has a key by now?"

"Yep," said Castform, whose key was lying on the ground beneath her since she couldn't hold it.

"Splendid!" the host exclaimed, clapping his hands in excitement. Diancie popped out of the cafeteria and floated over to his side as he began addressing the campers. "So, now that you're all here, we can begin the REAL fun. Those of you with golden keys, step forward now!"

Beedrill and Reuniclus both presented their keys to Jirachi, giving each other a confident nod as they did so. Jirachi glanced back and forth between the two of them in confusion and then turned to the rest of the campers.

"There were supposed to be three golden keys," Jirachi said, scratching his head. "What did you guys do with the other one?"

"Noivern has it, actually," Castform piped up. "She's in the showers right now."

The host stared at Castform for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Oh, that's right! I totally forgot we hid one of them in the outhouse," he said, wiping a tear from his eye. "Ah, good times. I remember it like it was yesterday!"

"It was this morning," Diancie told him.

"Don't sweat the details, Diancie, they're not important," Jirachi said, waving his hand at her. "Anyways, I guess we'll explain the situation to Noivern whenever she makes it here. In the meantime, let's cover what each type of key does."

"If you have a bronze key, which most of you do, you'll be opening one of the thirteen ordinary chests," Diancie informed the campers. "Inside is a prize for your troubles. Nothing too special, but we figured you've been through enough that you deserve some kind of reward."

"That sounds suspiciously nice of you," Vaporeon said with narrowed eyes. "What's the catch?"

"The catch is just that you don't get anything from the golden chests, which can contain better prizes," said Jirachi. "Any other questions?"

"The challenge is over sssince we found all the keysss, right?" Seviper pointed out. "Ssso how do eliminationsss work if there aren't any teamsss?"

"Well, most eliminations after the merge will take place as if you're one big team," Jirachi explained. "Anyone can vote for anyone else, and nobody's safe. But today's going to be a little different!"

"I don't like the sound of that," Jolteon muttered under his breath. Chatot gave the hosts a wary look.

"Today is Pokemon Drama Island's first ever…" Jirachi paused for dramatic effect, "AUTOMATIC ELIMINATION!"

His words were met with shocked silence. Dusclops looked dumbfounded by the very idea of automatic elimination while others like Chandelure seemed very concerned by the prospect of even more luck, given that hers had been rather lacking today.

"You heard me right: automatic elimination," Jirachi repeated, giving the campers a wicked grin. "That means no votes and no elimination ceremony! Today will simply mark the end of the road for one of you, but it remains to be seen who that unfortunate victim will be!"

"To further elaborate on what this means, one of you will be going home based on your choices in today's challenge, as well as a fair amount of bad luck, rather than how many votes you racked up in an elimination ceremony," Diancie explained.

"And how is the loser going to be determined, then?" asked Beedrill seriously. "Making a challenge revolving around luck is bad enough, but sending someone home based on luck doesn't seem fair at all."

"Fairness is overrated, but Diancie and I figured it would be more interesting to narrow down the competition anyway. See, it's not entirely random," Jirachi began. "The odds are actually one in three."

As soon as the words left Jirachi's mouth, a feeling of dread enveloped Beedrill and Reuniclus as they realized what he meant. The host chuckled at their horrified expressions. "That's right, folks. Those golden chests aren't just full of great prizes—one of them contains an elimination ticket that will be sending one of you off the island. No second chances, no complaints, no voting."

"Wait, hold on a second," Reuniclus protested. "I thought the golden keys were supposed to be good!"

"Not so high and mighty now, are ya," Chatot muttered under his breath.

"I don't believe we ever stated that they were exclusively good, did we, Diancie?" Jirachi asked his partner smugly. She shook her head. "Didn't think so. The golden key you've got there represents a chance to rise above the rest—or get eliminated trying. It's a high risk, high reward opportunity."

"What sorta prizes have ya got in there ta make takin' a chance for automatic elimination worth the risk?" Chatot asked, folding his wings in disapproval.

"Oh, they're good prizes, Chatot. Don't you worry," Jirachi chuckled. "If you're lucky enough to NOT get the chest containing automatic elimination, you may find yourself the owner of a ticket that grants you a triple vote...or perhaps you'll open up the chest containing the second immunity idol."

Upon hearing the words "immunity idol," excited murmurs began passing between the campers. Jirachi allowed the talking to die down before continuing. "That's right, campers. There's another immunity idol now," Jirachi confirmed, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "But if you don't want to take the risk of getting the elimination ticket, now's your chance to trade away your golden key. I'm sure someone else is willing to try to get their hands on the idol if you don't want to."

Reuniclus looked down at the key in his hands in horror. There was no way the immunity idol was worth the risk of elimination. He glanced back at the rest of the campers, holding up his key to see if anyone else wanted it.

Almost instantly, Mienshao pushed forward through the crowd and snatched the key out of Reuniclus's hand. "I'll take that," she said, handing Reuniclus her ordinary bronze key before stepping back into the crowd. "I'm not missing a chance at the second immunity idol."

Chandelure toyed with the idea of taking a golden key, but dismissed the idea quickly after calculating the risk. The odds of getting automatically eliminated were too high to merit the risk of taking a golden key, unless you were in a precarious situation like Mienshao, who most likely needed the idol just to stay in the game.

Nobody else seemed keen on taking a golden key, either. Beedrill looked uncomfortable to have kept his, but he knew there was no point in trying to trade it away—nobody wanted to take that chance. Reuniclus breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had made it another day.

"Well, now that you all know the big surprise, there's no point in dragging out the suspense. Anyone with a bronze key, pick a chest and open it," Jirachi ordered the campers. "Inside is your reward, to do with as you please."

Mawile was the first to pick a chest, approaching it warily before sticking the key inside and popping it open. The "prize" inside wasn't nearly as big as the chest that contained it, though Mawile suspected the excessive size of the chest was merely to conceal whatever was inside.

"Silph Scopes?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she pulled them out.

"Great for keeping tabs on those pesky Ghost-types!" Jirachi said, winking at the camera. "Have you ever felt like a ghost was watching you, but had no way of knowing? Well, fret no more! Silph Scopes make ghost-watching as easy as—"

"Yeah, yeah, we know what they do," Mawile interrupted him, rolling her eyes. Jirachi looked upset to be cut off mid-sponsorship, but he motioned for the next camper to go.

Jolteon decided to try his luck, unlocking the chest next to Mawile's and peeking inside. He pulled out a bag of chips with an utterly disappointed look. "It's...a bag of chips," he muttered, stating the obvious.

"Perfect for a late night snack!" Jirachi said optimistically. "As long as your cabin-mates don't mind the loud crinkling of a delicious bag of chips, that is!"

"It's already opened," Jolteon said, tipping the bag upside down. Four small chips fell out. "And somebody ate most of them."

Jirachi huffed disdainfully. "Well, what did you expect, a limo? I didn't say all the prizes were _good,_ " he snapped. Jolteon tossed the emptied chip bag aside as Jirachi pointed at the next camper. "You. Open a chest."

Vaporeon padded over to the third chest and fit her key into the lock. She stuck her paw into the chest and withdrew a pair of sunglasses and a bottle of cleaning solution. She stared at her prizes and then at the hosts. "What am I supposed to do with these?" she asked.

"I...don't know, honestly," said Jirachi, scratching his head. "We had the interns pick some of these."

Vaporeon shrugged and slipped the sunglasses onto her face as Clauncher moved up to pick out a chest. He settled for a chest near the middle of the lineup and went to open it.

"Aw, nice! Free crayons!" he shouted, pulling out an assortment of colored crayons with both claws. "Can't complain about that!"

"What are you even going to do with them?" Reuniclus asked doubtfully.

"Color, duh!" Clauncher said, shaking his head at Reuniclus. "What, did you expect me to eat them?"

"No, that would be...never mind," Reuniclus sighed. Clauncher stuffed as many crayons as he could carry into his claws and hobbled back over to the crowd as Seviper went up to claim her prize.

"It's a wrissstwatch," stated Seviper upon opening her chest.

"See? Not all the prizes are bad," Jirachi pointed out.

Seviper groaned. "I think you're misssing the point here," she muttered, but she took the watch with her into the crowd. She casually passed it to Beedrill, since he actually had the proper appendages to make use of a watch.

"Let's get this over with," Chandelure said quietly, floating up to open a chest. Inside was a pearl necklace, which Chandelure didn't seem too pleased to receive despite some of the other campers' jealous reactions.

And so the chest opening continued. Lilligant was rewarded with a trick flower that squirted water when you squeezed it, Dusclops received an old broken megaphone of Jirachi's, and Lopunny received a deck of cards that was strangely missing every single card from the suit of hearts. Chatot was less than thrilled to be gifted with the slingshot he had used during the paintball challenge, and Castform opened her chest to find a seven-year-old newspaper written in a different language.

"Uh...well, hey, at least I can look at the pictures," commented Castform, flipping the newspaper upside down to view the front page from a different angle. "Heh heh. It looks like they're standing on the ceiling now."

Reuniclus and Combusken were the last two with bronze keys. "After you," Reuniclus offered politely, extending his arm out. Combusken gave Reuniclus a friendly smile and went to open up the second-to-last wooden chest.

The chest popped open with a satisfying snap, and Combusken peered inside. After a moment with no response, Jirachi cleared his throat. "Er, Combusken?"

"It's a trash bag," Combusken sighed miserably, pulling out an empty black trash bag. "I got a trash bag."

Jirachi was having a hard time holding back laughter, so Diancie covered for him. "Well, the prizes _were_ random, so…" The co-host shrugged her shoulders. "Not everyone's a winner today."

"But one of you is going to be an even bigger loser than everyone else once we start opening those golden chests!" Jirachi exclaimed. "Hurry up and open your boring chest so we can get to the good stuff, Jell-O!"

Reuniclus shot him a glare. "Don't call me that," he said sharply, but he obediently opened up a chest anyway. Jirachi folded his arms as Reuniclus pulled out what was inside.

"It's a mini cactus," Reuniclus observed, holding up his tiny potted cactus to the light.

"Dude, nice! I always wanted one of those," Clauncher commented, grinning at the small plant. Reuniclus gave his friend a weird look.

"Well, isn't that great!" Jirachi said enthusiastically. "Now, where were we? Ah, that's right! The three golden chests!"

"Noivern still isn't back yet," Beedrill interrupted him, holding up a needle.

Jirachi's expression went blank; he had clearly forgotten about Noivern's absence. "Well, I'm sure she'll be back soon," he said dismissively. "We can wait for her to get back in the meantime. It builds suspense!"

"No, it doesssn't," Seviper said snarkily. Jirachi shot her a look of disapproval, but he turned away to discuss something privately with Diancie until Noivern returned.

Mienshao turned her golden key over in her hands and studied it closely. There wasn't much about it that was different from the bronze keys other than the color, but she had a good feeling about this one nonetheless. After all, two of those chests contained prizes that could change the game for her—she couldn't pass up this opportunity, right?

Fortunately for the campers, Noivern didn't take long to arrive. She seemed rather confused about why everyone was gathered together by the chests until she noticed that thirteen of them were already opened.

"Did I miss something?" Noivern whispered to Castform as she flew over next to her.

"Yeah, we kind of started without you," Castform mentioned. "You're one of the only ones who still has to go."

"Oh. Uh, sorry! My bad! Just had to go wash off," Noivern apologized sheepishly, making her way to the front of the crowd. Diancie acknowledged her with a nod, and the three campers with golden keys lined up in front of the three remaining chests.

"So, excuse me for asking, but what's up with these chests?" Noivern asked. "I take it there's some sorta cool stuff inside, since the key was, like, golden and all?"

"I see your friends haven't filled you in on what you missed," Jirachi remarked, peeking at Castform from the corner of his eye. "Well, Noivern, there is indeed some cool stuff inside these chests, but it may not be what you expect. Want to open one up?"

"Yeah, sure," Noivern agreed, taking out her key and twisting it into one of the locks. The first golden chest opened up, and Noivern's eyes widened at what was inside.

"Hey, neat! What's this?" asked Noivern, snatching up a green ticket from inside the chest. Her eyes scanned the paper as she began to read it. "Congratulations! You've received the ticket of…"

The next words caught in her throat, and the ticket fluttered out of her grasp, landing on the ground at her feet. "Ticket of…" she repeated hollowly, "...automatic elimination."

Noivern stared at the ground blankly for a few seconds before looking up at the hosts. "...Is this for real?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"I'm afraid so, Noivern," Jirachi replied solemnly. "You've been eliminated. But hey, look on the bright side! You get to be the show's first automatically eliminated contestant!"

Castform rushed over to Noivern's side before the host could continue. "What? That's not fair! She didn't even know what was in the chests!" Castform protested.

"That's too bad," Jirachi said with a shrug. "She pulled the automatic elimination ticket, fair and square. We're not just going to stick in back in the chest and shuffle them."

"But you didn't even tell her the risks! She wasn't around for that!" Castform said. For once, she seemed genuinely angry at the hosts. "She never got the chance to trade her key to someone else!"

"If you had a problem with that, you should have spoken up before we started opening any of the chests," Jirachi said calmly. Castform opened her mouth to argue, but Jirachi held up a hand. "Let us finish the challenge, Castform."

He nodded at Beedrill and Mienshao. "Pick a chest," the host instructed. Beedrill and Mienshao locked eyes, exchanging a cold glare. Mienshao stepped forward first, hoping to get her hands on the immunity idol before Beedrill could.

The weasel unlocked the chest on the right, and her eyes lit up once she saw what was inside. Mienshao triumphantly grabbed the immunity idol and held it high for everyone to see. Her eyes met Lilligant's, and a cruel grin worked its way onto Mienshao's face.

"Guess I'm not going home any time soon, am I?" Mienshao taunted the rest of the campers. Most of the campers wore unhappy expressions; many of them had hoped to be rid of Mienshao soon, now that they were united against her. "So you'd better get used to having me around, because I'm not planning on leaving without that money."

"Don't get cocky, Mienshao," Beedrill advised her. She turned to face him, her smug grin still there. "What you have is one idol, and there are fifteen of us. You may last one more night, but it won't be enough."

"Oh, it won't be?" Mienshao challenged him, holding a hand up to her mouth in mock surprise. "Don't let that triple vote of yours get to your head, Beedrill. You're not the one that's guaranteed safety for another night."

"I'm not the one who needs it," Beedrill spat venomously. Mienshao let out an audible laugh, and Reuniclus noticed Beedrill's needles twitching in anger.

"Um, maybe we should finish the challenge," Reuniclus spoke up quickly. "There's one chest left."

"Thank you, Reuniclus, for getting us back on track!" Jirachi called out loudly, placing himself between Beedrill and Mienshao to prevent them from escalating the argument any further. "Beedrill, would you do the honors?"

"Why?" Beedrill asked, his tone still hostile. "By process of elimination, we already know that this is the chest containing the triple vote ticket."

"I know," Jirachi sighed irritably. "Just open it, Beedrill. Jeez."

Beedrill flashed Mienshao one last look to let her know this wasn't over, but he slipped the key into the lock and popped his chest open. He quickly removed the red ticket from inside and read it. "Congratulations. You've received the triple vote ticket."

The bug Pokemon looked up at Jirachi in exasperation. "There. Satisfied?"

"Yeah, yeah. Killjoy," Jirachi murmured. "You can use that ticket to make your vote count for three in any given ceremony, by the way. Or you can use it to vote for three different people, but I have no idea why you'd ever want to do that."

Beedrill nodded and folded up the red ticket, tucking it away underneath his wing. Mienshao leered at him as he made his way back into the crowd next to Combusken and Reuniclus, clutching the idol tightly in one hand.

Noivern, however, was just standing there. She hadn't made a noise the entire time, simply staring at the ground in shock. Castform had gone over to console her, but she didn't seem to be processing Castform's words. The Weather Pokemon glanced up in worry.

"That's the end of the challenge, everyone," Diancie concluded. "You may keep whatever prizes you earned in today's challenge, unless you don't want them."

The co-host hovered over to Noivern and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Noivern, it's time for you to leave," Diancie informed her. "You can head down to the confessional now and say your goodbyes at the dock. We'll give you some time to pack first."

Noivern nodded numbly and started trudging towards her cabin. Castform followed at a distance, and Dusclops began following them as well.

 **-static-**

Noivern crammed a pair of headphones back into her suitcase wordlessly as she prepared to leave. Castform and Dusclops stood at the doorway to the cabin, but the bat had barely acknowledged either of them. Castform finally let out a sigh and approached Noivern.

"Noivern, I'm so sorry this had to happen," Castform apologized. "It's really not fair. I just wish it could have been...you know, Mienshao, or literally anyone else…"

Noivern slowly looked up and smiled at Castform. "What do you have to apologize for?" Noivern asked. "This was the hosts' dumb idea for a challenge. They're to blame."

"Well, yeah, but I should have warned you what the golden chests were," Castform said weakly. "I didn't think to do that, and…"

"You couldn't have. I wasn't there when you started opening the chests, and that's just how it is," Noivern sighed. "If I'd have known, then yeah, I'd have gotten rid of my key. But we can't change what happened."

She looked to see what Castform had to say, but the Weather Pokemon was quiet. Noivern's expression softened as she heard a quiet sniffle from Castform.

"I'm sorry," Castform said again quietly. Noivern pulled Castform into a quick hug.

"Don't be," said Noivern gently. "It's not your fault."

Castform did her best to hold back tears, but she still looked miserable. "I'm sorry that I couldn't keep you or Azurill in," she apologized. "I tried. I really did."

Noivern laughed lightly. "Castform, neither of our eliminations were your fault. Azurill accidentally eliminated herself, and I just got the short end of the stick," Noivern said. "You're a strong player and a great friend. You can still do this without me."

Castform looked up at Noivern's face, and a small smile began forming on hers. "Thank you, Noivern," said Castform quietly. Noivern cracked a smile and gave Castform a light punch on the shoulder before heading to the doorway.

"It was, um...good working with you. For as long as it lasted, you know," Dusclops said awkwardly.

"Man, who cares about that? It was awesome getting to be friends with you!" Noivern said with a grin, holding out her fist. Dusclops bumped it with his own and gave her a smile. "There we go! Don't be sad that I'm leaving. We can still be friends after this is over, y'know?"

Her last statement was directed at both Dusclops and Castform, and the two of them both nodded in sync. Noivern flashed both of them one last grin before flying out the door.

Dusclops twiddled his fingers anxiously once she was gone. "...You think we can still do this?" he asked Castform after a few seconds.

"Of course we can," she replied, her confidence renewed. "Who's gonna stop us now, huh?"

The two of them exchanged a brief smile before heading outside to see Noivern off at the docks. Mawile watched them leave before heading into the cabin for herself, conflicted about the show's latest victim.

 **-static-**

" **I don't know if I should feel relieved or not. Noivern was working with Dusclops, so having her gone might make the island safer for me, but…" Mawile sighed. "I hope that's not all that this game is about anymore. There was a time when I'd have considered her an ally, if not a friend."**

 **Mawile paused for a moment and then waved to the camera. "See you, Noivern. I hope we can still be friends after this drama gets sorted out," Mawile said hopefully.**

 **-static-**

" **Well, my time's over sooner than I'd have liked. I mean, this is kind of a sudden way to go, but I had a good time. Made some friends, did some cool challenges, the whole shebang," said Noivern. "I'd say my time here has been worth it."**

 **She leaned in closer to the camera. "Obviously, I'm rooting for my best friends Castform and Dusclops!" she exclaimed. "But if they don't win, then...uh, Clauncher's pretty cool. And I don't really have anything against Mawile either, personally."**

 **She gave the camera an exaggerated wave with one wing. "Bye, Pokemon Drama Island! See you next...uh...I don't know! Invite me back next season, or whatever!"**

 **-static-**

Most of the remaining campers showed up to see Noivern off the island. It was the first elimination where there had been no campfire ceremony to precede it, so she had left midway through the afternoon as opposed to late during the night.

Noivern climbed onto her Lapras with her belongings and waved to her friends as it drifted away from the dock. Dusclops waved to her with both hands as per Castform's request, since the latter did not have any hands. The bat grinned widely and gave them one final wave.

"Guess we ought to head back," Dusclops said once the Lapras was over the horizon. "Want to head to the rec room?"

"Sure," Castform agreed. She flashed Dusclops a genuine smile. "Let's go."

 **-static-**

"Are you gonna keep it?"

Reuniclus set his tiny cactus on the windowsill gently, balancing it carefully so it wouldn't fall. "Of course I am," he told Clauncher nonchalantly. "It's my prize."

"Yeah, it is," Clauncher said. "Although I was kinda hoping you didn't want it so I could have it."

"Well, I for one think he improves the cabin's atmosphere," Reuniclus said, rubbing his chin with one hand. "What do you think?"

"'He'?" Clauncher inquired curiously.

"I'm going to call him Buddy," Reuniclus decided. Clauncher rolled his eyes and climbed onto his bed.

 **-static-**

"We did it," said Vaporeon, giving Jolteon a high-five as the two of them convened in front of the cafeteria. "We made it past the first merge challenge!"

"Yeah, and I won an empty bag of chips," said Jolteon, still looking disappointed by the outcome of the chests.

Vaporeon snickered and removed her sunglasses, handing them over to him. "Here," she offered. "Now we can both be winners."

"But...these are yours," Jolteon said, taking them hesitantly.

She merely chuckled in response. "I don't care about a random pair of sunglasses. Besides, I won some cleaning solution anyway, and I still don't know what to do with that."

"Heh. Yeah," Jolteon laughed along. His expression changed suddenly. "Man, I can't believe Mienshao won an immunity idol today."

"I know, it sucks," Vaporeon groaned. "Now we can't get rid of her for at least a week."

Jolteon studied Vaporeon's face carefully. "Hey, you're not in an alliance with Mienshao or anything, are you?" he asked. His tone was neutral, but Vaporeon looked a bit offended by the question.

"No. Why would I be?" Vaporeon asked. "I mean, I worked with her a few times before the merge, but only when it was in my best interest. I wouldn't call us friends by any stretch of the imagination."

"I was just wondering," Jolteon muttered, his mind drifting back to Chatot's agreement with Mienshao. "Just curious, that's all."

Vaporeon smiled at him. "Well, don't worry about Mienshao for now. We made it through today, and that's reason enough to celebrate some more," she said cheerfully. "Want to go for a swim at the lake?"

"Sure," said Jolteon, but for once his mind wasn't focused on Vaporeon.

* * *

Thanks for over five thousand views, everyone! I appreciate the heck out of all of you.

This chapter marks PDI's first departure from formulaic elimination ceremonies since chapter one, and boy is it a big one. Noivern's been a pretty popular contender since the beginning, and her elimination is certainly going to throw off the balance of Dusclops and Castform's alliance. In general, Noivern has just been a very well-liked character, so automatic elimination seemed to be the only reasonable way for her to be eliminated.

Besides the potentially surprising automatic elimination, some other game changers have popped up, such as the second immunity idol and even a triple vote ticket! And with the idol in the hands of someone like Mienshao...well, trouble is bound to follow.

Only fifteen campers remain, so don't forget to vote for your favorites in the poll (which is on my profile)! Thanks for reading, everyone!

Noivern: And don't forget to review, too! Share it with your friends, even!


End file.
